Knights of Hope and Joy
by RobinKent
Summary: Continuation of Days of Life and Love. Tim/Kon (Superboy/Robin) Superbird, Bart/Jamie (Impulse/Blue Beetle) Speedbuggy. Dick/Wally (Nightwing/Kid Flash) Birdflash.
1. Chapter 1

Red Robin sat at the head of the conference table alone with a combination of written files and virtual files scattered about him on the broad expanse.

"What troubles you, my friend?" The tall and dark Atlantean asked.

"Kaldur! Please, come sit down." Red Robin asks as he jumps up and takes his old friend's hand. They look one another in the eye for a moment before they break eye contact and hold each other in a deep embraced that neither on wishes to break. Eventually they do, and Kaldur sits to Robin's side and he quietly waits for the questions that he knows are coming.

"Kal… your coming at the sewers was just in time." Robin stated. For a moment the Atlantean emissary was disappointed until he heard the rest of Tim's statement. "I think you know what Sleez could do. Your coming gave us hope. You came back beyond all hope. I missed you brother." Tim said fighting back tears in his eyes. Both strong and stalwart and stoic, only a fool would say that either young man wasn't moved by finally being together again. If each was alone, they would have silently wept in joy yet again.

"I sense your questions and all I remember is Klarion's dagger in my chest and then a deep, haunting voice… a beautiful voice. The depth of it called me back to the depth of the sea, but we were far from it in space. I floated in space and water… the stars of the sky were reflected in the sea, and then the sea was reflected in space. I can only say it was a beauty that I did not wish to awoken from, yet it was the only reason I could awake."

"Kon hurt for a long time, you know." Tim said softly, implying he had as well.

"I know, and I with him." But just then the Kryptonian husband of the Team leader edged himself into the room very slowly. They were past their victory at the slums and past their celebration of all they had accomplished. Now was the empty time where they gathered their thoughts, and gathered those they held most dear. Kaldur stood up from his seat next to Tim and looked over to the newcomer. Before either could help themselves, Kon rushed forward in abandon and pulled the Atlantean in a deep hug and cried softly on his shoulder where the only one who could see was Tim… finally.

"No… we decided that before. You're in charge of this mess we call a team." Nightwing said to his adoptive little brother.

"He is correct, Robin. We had already decided this." Kaldur agreed.

The young vigilante all but slumped his shoulders at the continued burden. He was never one to shirk responsibility, but they had just gotten an old friend back and didn't want to lose another.

"So… what's the next mission, hermano?" Blue Beetle asked. They all knew one another in the real world, but it had become their way to address each other by their 'code names' when in uniform. The dichotomy might seem odd, but then again these young people were unlike any other the world had known. Already five of them had come back from the edge of death and still held true to themselves and their mission.

"I think for the time being we take it easy a little bit. Superboy and I will patrol Metropolis from time to time and look in on our new friends in Suicide Slums and make sure they are doing okay. I also need to spend a little more time back in Gotham. We might have a little clean-up left after getting Dr. Crane off the streets. Hell, we might even get a chance to go to a hockey game. KF and Bart, Flash might like to know you're still around. Maybe head off to Central City once in a while? Jamie… I think you would probably like to help the El Paso PD finish off what is left of the drug cartel there and aid the new mayor in cleaning up the police department."

"I would like that, but I need Impulse to help me." He said as his black and blue symbiotic armor bent into a smile.

"I trust this is not a prelude to disbanding this Team, Robin. We have come so far, done so much, and have one another's love and trust." Aqualad asked in quiet wisdom.

"No… Never. But we all need a break and we have our own lives that we all have neglected to take care of the greater issues. Kon and I, for one, have to get settled into our new home and need to discuss some important matters. And, we all have jobs we need to attend to before we get fired. Otherwise, we'll all be moving in here."

A couple of the Team members whisper amongst themselves at Tim and Kon having things to discuss and Kon catches the gist of the concern.

"No guys… we're both fine really. We're not breaking up or anything. You should know us better than that." Kon said to diffuse the concern heard from some across the table. And you could tell who, as a sigh of relief was heard from some, especially Nightwing. But Superboy and Red Robin looked at each other with nothing but joy and delight in each other's eyes.

"So…" Robin continued "Let's go back to our old schedule like when we started. We'll spend the weekends here together; and even that will be pretty light, mostly hanging out together. The Justice League owes us bigtime and they're not dropping missions on us for a while."

"WOOT!" Kid Flash exclaims, then looks over at Artemis and says "More time for you baby."

"OMG… they only way I'd be worried about you is if you pulled your butt off Nightwing's…"

"Artemis!" Arsenal exclaims suddenly.

The whole team erupts in laughter and Kid Flash and Artemis share a hug in friendship.

Life quickly returns to normal, or what passes for normal among such guys as these. Tim spends his days at the helm of Drake Pharmaceuticals preparing the company for finalizing the merger with Wayne Enterprises. Conner is still getting situated at CADMUS, which is a longer process, especially considering he doesn't trust or like his boss, Lex Luthor. Luthor had absorbed CADMUS into his business empire some time before and hired Kon to run its laboratories. Kon had his own reasons for being there. It worried Tim immensely that being involved with CADMUS would bring back bad memories for Kon… but the young clone was on a personal crusade that he could only fight from the inside. The job was a great one with a lot of responsibility and a lot of authority. Some were disgruntled that this college age guy that still looked like a strapping 16-year-old farm boy was running their lab. Kon didn't care one bit. They tended to shut up when they realized that he had "started out" in the company, so to speak. Kon wasn't vindictive at all, but once in a while he passed someone in the halls that recognized him from his first days in the white solar suit as an experiment and they almost fled from him. It didn't hurt his feelings. But just now… he was rushing back to his office. He had a couple small time sensitive things to finish up before his lunch appointment.

"Mr. Kent… your 12:30 is here to see you." Kon heard over the intercom. His secretary didn't like the visitor very much, but she did respect and like her boss… or at least the man that her real boss had sent her to look after.

"Thank you Mercy. Please send him in."

Tim hadn't been working today and was dressed casual. Maybe it might not have been right for Kon's office, but being casual made the lunch date more date-like. His off-white slim jeans cut such a tight figure that you could almost get a cut off the hot young man. Over that he wore a grey hooded top made by one of the finest Rhelasian designers. It was freakin' hot, Conner thought. With him he carried a picnic basket that had to be super powered because the smells coming from it were weakening Kon and it smelled… warm.

"I don't think she likes me very much honey." Tim said as an aside after a kiss.

"No, she doesn't like you at all."

Tim would never have asked Kon to fire or hire someone on his staff because of what he thought, just as Kon would never do the same to him at Drake Pharmaceuticals.

"But, she is very good at what she does."

"What's that honey?"

"She handles my secretarial work, and sometimes fills in as bodyguard."

"Does she know you don't need one of those?" Tim asked jokingly.

"Yeah, but the public doesn't. She keeps up appearances."

"And… hates me." The young vigilante asked.

"Yes, but only because you are an outside influence, unknown quantity. Can't be controlled or pigeon-holed. She really works for Lex. She is his way of keeping tabs on me and we both know it and accept it as such. She is incredibly loyal and will do anything honorable that I ask of her, so long as it does not conflict with Luthor's orders."

"Do you know what those orders are?"

"No."

"Sweetie…" Tim asked "I didn't bring you lunch, at your request by the way, just so we could stress out over your secretary. You said you wanted a celebratory lunch and that a picnic was the way to go. I brought it up, so should we carry it back down to the car or spread a blanket here on the office floor?"

"Neither, baby-bird" Kon said with smugness.

"OMG… its bad enough Dick calls me that, but now you?" Tim exclaims.

"Yes, this time." Kon responds and pulls his husband by the hand over to a small alcove. He presses a button hidden in the molding of the wall and a panel opens to reveal a small elevator that will accommodate two. The door almost closes on the two young men when Kon suddenly remembers he forgot something and presses the door button and runs out. Sure, he's not as fast as Kid Flash or Impulse, but he is Superboy and pretty darned fast himself. He's back before the door closes and has a file folder in his hand grinning.

"Show-off" Tim says smiling.

The elevator runs up for some small distance and then opens upon and broad lawn… a garden in the sky above Metropolis.

"Oh my god honey, this is wonderful!" Tim declared transfixed.

"Yeah, it is. I didn't even know it was here until the other day. I 'saw' the gap in the wall for the elevator and then just followed it up. Once I found this I asked Mercy why she didn't tell me about it. You know what she said?"

"No."

"'You didn't ask.' That's so like her. Perfectly precise."

To one side of the rooftop garden is a lovely luncheon table and Tim spreads out their picnic which he kept warm in insulated containers. He was particularly proud of the bar-b-que ribs he had made and wanted Kon to be able to eat them warm, which he loved.

"So… what was the big deal today?" Tim asked around a mouthful of vinegary German style potato salad.

"Oh… this." Kon said trying to be understated as he pushed the folder he had brought over to his young husband. "Read it."

Tim starts to read through the computer printed pages and his eyes grow wider and wider.

"Honey… isn't this the 'Kr Protocol' that they used to…"

"To make me? Yes, it is. Keep reading."

Beyond the initial paperwork was some of Kon's research and some new breakthroughs in genetic science. Things unknown to the public. A rib bone drops with a clatter onto the melamine plate beneath him as he finds the bits that Kon really wanted him to understand.

"Conner… is this… what I think… sweetheart…?" The young socialite turned vigilante asks his husband with trepidation.

"Yes, it is. Isn't it more of what we wanted than we thought possible?" Kon asked quietly.

"It is…." Tim said deep in thought. "What will the boy think?"

"Bart? I think he'll be delighted!"

Tim read over the papers that Kon had given him once again…

"I think he'd make a wonderful uncle." Tin said with quiet tears in his eyes.

"You see honey… there is a way to actually truly combine our DNA to clone a child that is truly ours. Since he will be from half of you, he won't have the problems with his Kryptonian blood like I had, but it won't be as strong either."

"How would we raise a child like that… a boy?" Tim asked carefully.

"Yes, a boy. I agree. But we would raise him like Bruce did with you… with a lot of love and if you wanted we could train him enough to be able to look after himself and never be a victim like so many people are these days."

"Kon, are we too young to be fathers?"

"Too many children are born to people younger than us and less ready than we."

"What about an identity and birth certificate?" Tim asked pragmatically.

"I know a good hacker." Kon answered playfully.

For the next hour they talked of hopes and dreams now made possible and what their future might really hold, for both them and the Team that had just started calling itself the Teen Titans after Wonder Woman had made that one comment. They thought about their newest adventure not being one of danger or a fight against some powerful villain, but one of a new and growing family. They moved over to the grass and sat down with their iced tea that Tim had brought and continued to talk, until talk became hugs and kisses, and those hugs became something more. Kon had swept the area for cameras or bugs once he had discovered the place, but Tim simply didn't care at the moment. They made love together on the rooftop of CADMUS's headquarters… the place that had made Kon and yet would also give them their son.

Several days later, the movers had brought the last of the boxes from Tim and Kon's old loft into the new penthouse. They had given the loft over to Bart and Jamie. Ironically, Bart had spent most of the week helping them unpack. In all fairness, Bart had the closest thing to the feminine touch that the home was ever going to get. Not all the furniture had been set up and the speedster had been spending his nights on the couch with the television permanently tuned to Cartoon Network. Come morning, Kon made a large breakfast, as they always had for Bart… and before they even got dressed Tim sat on the floor next to Impulse in front of the television and casually asked:

"Bart, did you have any brothers or sisters… back there?" Bart had come back in time from a terrible future and had helped save humanity from that fate, but he couldn't return. He wouldn't return now if he could though. He had too much to love and enjoy in this time.

"No Tim, I always told you, I was an only child. Why?"

"What would it be like, you think, to have a little brother?"

"I don't know. I think it would be wonderful to have a brother to play with, protect, and pester. You know… FUN! But why do you ask? You have a little brother."

"Well… Damian is kind of a special case." Tim said evasively.

"Well… doi! He is. OMG he's cute, but like that 'screw you' shield he puts up? Like he's afraid of being judged by everyone else if they know him."

Tim stifles a laugh at Bart's ability to sometimes see things clearer than others. "But what if you suddenly had a little brother, what would you think of that?"

Bart pulls his eyes away from the TV and looks dead into Tim's deep blue orbs. The boy was exceedingly intelligent and saw where his older friend was going. He knew Kon was a clone, and he knew where Kon worked, and he knew they had always wanted a little boy, even though Bart filled in pretty good.

"Timmy… are you trying to tell me that you and Kon are going to have a boy?" Bart says slowly and carefully… like when he's being super-sure of something.

"Yeah Bart, you're going to be a big brother... or an uncle. What do you think of that?"

They had gotten the penthouse almost settled. But at least two days of progress was lost by Bart's maniacal giggling laughter as he ran about the house carrying on like an idiot. His little butt looked like two ferrets in a pillowcase as he skipped across the room in his rocket ship underwear.

"Kon…" Tim asked "I love the boy to death but will he be a good role-model?"

"Bart? Are you silly? He's good, kind, and loving. He's loyal to the end. Just remember what he went through to help fix Jamie. He's certainly courageous, no doubt there; sometimes to a fault. Sure, he's a randy boy that will likely never grow up much, but neither did Peter Pan and see how loyal and tough he is?"

The following year was a busy one. Tim still had a business to run, which was quite a task for such a young man. The merger with Wayne Enterprises was delayed due to legal issues with the distribution of tainted Venom that Scarecrow had accomplished while being employed by Drake under a false identity. Timothy Drake and his company took full responsibility and things were going well, but it took time. Meanwhile, Conner continued his research at CADMUS and saw to the progress of a little boy growing in a cloning chamber.

Both Tim and Kon spent many hours with him as he grew at his accelerated rate. Kon remembered how he was taught and sought to do the same for the little boy, but with more love and kindness. They had others among their friends and family sit with him, lending their presence from time to time, so that he would know love, companionship, and a sense of family, thing that Conner had not known at the time. It then became natural for each of the friends and family to come at times where the computer systems were uploading certain subjects into his fertile mind or neurotransmitters nurture and tone his young untrained muscles.

Wally had always been a science nerd and he would read interesting articles of scientific coolness to the boy. Voices were captured by microphones and fed into the young clone's auditory nerves. They timed the regimen so that right after Wally was with him Dick would sit with him and talk about his days as an acrobat when he was a little boy while the neuro-electro connections toned his young muscles. Bart and Jamie would sit with him and read comics to him or tell him jokes and teach him humor. Bart was eager to have his little nephew… like a kid waiting on cookies to finish baking. Each of the friends took their turn: Kaldur taught him something about mystical arts, Jamie about alien technologies, and Roy about street smarts. But the surprise to all, was when Damian barged his way into the laboratory and shooed everyone out and he sat and talked with the growing boy in his chamber. The youngest new Robin strode out and his eyes were slightly red like he had shed a tear or two. But if you said anything, you might have gotten a good bleeding wound for your trouble. Maybe the little fiend wanted a nephew too.

Kon and Tim both had taken to wearing tech watches that kept tabs on everything related to the coning chamber where their little son was being "born." It would be soon and they were both nervous and excited. The penthouse had a charming boy's room ready for him, but mostly decorated by Impulse and Damian. It seems they had come to an understanding, and they were the youngest among all the heroes. Tim wasn't sure what to do for décor since he had already been too serious at a very young age and Conner never had a childhood. But Bart and Damian did very well and the room was both playful and inviting.

But even so… reality and work took its moments. Kon was making progress in his research and was looking more and more toward finding Match and fixing him… something Bart had mixed feelings on. But with his new sense of creation, he wanted to give Match the chance he had never been given… the chance to be a normal young man, either human or Kryptonian. Yet he knew he and the lab would be a magnet for the tortured boy, like Frankenstein's monster returning to his creator. But no one could have seen it coming quite like this.

Tim felt his wrist vibrate as the tech watch told him that there was something wrong… very wrong… with the cloning chamber. He was across town at his office in a meeting. He looked over to his assistant, Robert Trimble (he and his wife had been as eager to meet the new child of his boss too) and said:

"Call my helicopter, I'll meet it on the helipad." Tim calls out to Robert. "I apologize gentlemen, but I have to call this meeting closed. This is a medical company and sometimes medical emergencies require my personal attention."

There never was a helicopter and Robert never called for one. He knew it to be a cue to cover for his boss and friend as he leaved to solve a problem. He ran to his office, and into his personal bathroom and pulled off his suit to reveal the lightweight uniform he wore underneath. Running over to the coffee bar he opened a secret panel and pulled out a fully equipped utility belt and his staff.

"Is there some way I can help Tim?" Robin heard behind him. He spun abut and saw Trimble's stalwart form close the door quietly.

"It's the beacon from the lab… it's our boy."

"He's due?" Robert asked as his eyes sparkled in eager anticipation.

"No… there's something wrong."

A cold dread settled on Robert's heart, but he had always promised himself that he would stand by his friend who had stood by everyone else for so long. When he looked up, the young hero was already gone, and a window was open overlooking the city. With a curse over his human speed, Robert Trimble took the express elevator to the lobby, forcibly pulled a cabbie from his taxi, and stole it, driving off across town.

But it was only an accident of irony that Robin knew before Kon that something was wrong. The hidden cloning lab was next to Kon's office but was shielded against radiation, heat, light, sound waves, and anything else Kon could think of. But the moment something was wrong, the computer called Robin. Kon never heard the sounds beyond the far wall and the door between him and his son… it was a fact that would never assuage his guilt or his rage.

But finally, there was an impact against the lab door, leaving an epic dent. Kon tossed his useless glasses aside and bolted for the door thinking there was something wrong with his boy. He might have been strong enough to do that with his bit of Kryptonian DNA… but it was too soon. He just reached the wall where the door to the lab was hidden when the window at the 37th floor exploded behind him. Red Robin flew in, tucked himself, and rolled and came up to his feet right at the door, just as Kon began to bend the titanium door aside with his meta-human strength.

The sight before the two heroes caused so much pain and grief that they almost did not know how to react. Every computer was shattered, destroyed. Electrical conduit was ripped apart… and power was disrupted to the cloning chamber. The end, which was his beginning, is such a delicate time… too delicate. As intelligent as Kon was, it was almost too much to take on at once. He had secured the lab and reinforced the doorway to it… but the far wall had been ripped apart in a rage… and every wall behind it out to the open sky. A lone figure raged about, destroying everything in his path. Conner raged against the intrusion until he saw the face of the vandal.

Frankenstein monster did indeed return to his birthplace… but it wasn't that simple. Something about the existence of a cloning chamber perhaps called him and he was working his way through the technology to destroy it. Conner looked upon his twin, mindlessly filled with rage, and his breath caught in his throat. Robin saw him once again… momentarily glad Bart was not present… to see Match destroy the lab until the chamber and its small occupant was all that remained. He loosed every birdarang he had in his limited arsenal and Kon launched into the other cone in a pile-driver punch that would have destroyed a small building. The floor did in fact shudder under the impact as Match ignored the blow and took one more step where time slowed.

Kon was reeling from the reverse impact…

Robin ran, snatching his back belt pouch open…

"KON!... RUN!"

Conner… Superboy… could never run, not now. Not away from his clone brother, and not away from his son where he could not protect him.

It happened all at once… a single strong arm swung wide in rage and shattered a cloning chamber filling the floor with the artificial amniotic fluid… and the body of a small boy. So Kon did run… right to the base of the blasted cloning chamber and caught his boy before he fell to the ground. He then felt the pain and weakness… and forced himself to endure. The pain was terrible because it was so near and focused… he ground his teeth and wept at the pain, but only gripped the silent and quiet little boy tighter covering him with his body. He was part Kryptonian. Kon was shielding his son with his own body.

Robin held the small green stone with one hand, barely wielding his staff with another. He could strike and face defeat, or he could hold the stone high and hope real hard… but the decision was taken from him.

Robert Trimble had made his way to the CADMUS building and up to Kon's offices… in time to see the little boy fall into Kon's arms. Robert remembered the sacrifices they had made and had asked nothing in return… except for the once thing that others took for granted… to have a family. His Glock pistol fired uselessly… but it was a statement. When would people stand up for those who sacrificed everything for them? He chose to do that… at this moment. He fired his pistol right at Match. It wouldn't hurt him, but maybe take his focus away from his friends and their unborn son. In his mind and heart he said goodbye to his wife and daughter and kept firing… and Match kept coming.

Conner gasped with the pain and endured… he looked into the little boy's eyes and saw… nothing… at all. His breath caught, even through the pain of the Kryptonite that Robin was forced to use. He looked into the beautiful face and lifeless blue eyes and his crying breaths became gasping pains.

"TIM! KILL HIM!" He called out in hopeless rage. He had never used his name like that in a mission before, but they both knew this mattered more than any cover identity… Conner held their still-born child and rocked and rocked holding the little boy weeping in rage.

"Kill him… fucking kill him!"

Robin felt the same pain… he had now lost everything. Not the company, not his skills, not the Team. But if they lost their son they would have lost everything. His hand tightened around the kryptonite and he punched Match in the face… not daring to hope he would survive the counter attack. Match felt the blow… and it hurt him… badly. Robin saw the pain and wanted to cause more of it. For the first time in his life, he took joy in causing pain. He struck Match again and again… and he saw the clone bleed. It was horrible for Robin to do… How do you destroy a villain who has murdered your child and looks like your husband? But as Match backed away he turned to a new threat… and single indomitable human that would stand for what was right and honorable, regardless of consequence. That human fired again and again….

Superboy held the silent still boy and wept. The pain receded as Robin forced Match further away. His mind told him there was gunfire… but it did not fully register. He leaned down to kiss the quiet lips of his stillborn son… and just wanted to give one breath so he could say he had shared breath of life with his son. The boy's chest expanded with the breath, then relaxed… silent. But it was first a breath, then the parting kiss of a father to his lost son. This time there was a longer pause before the little boy's chest settled. He breathed into him more gently but determined how… praying for a miracle…

Match strode towards Robert as he emptied his pistol and changed magazines for a fresh one. It wouldn't matter, he was too close. Robin tossed aside his staff and held the piece of Kryptonite in his hand and hit Match yet again… this time he did not let up. He wept thinking of the son they almost had… his cries came out in gasping sobs as he beat the purer clone of his husband and thought only of Kon holding their little boy that would never be… no longer was there any justice, or love, or truth… but only that single moment where he beat upon him again and again. He dragged him to the edge of the office, by the shattered window.

The only way to ensure he died from the fall was to carry the Kryptonite with him. He looked over to his beloved husband. His heart said goodbye where his voice could not. From 37 floors up he was taking Match with him… then he heard something no one had ever heard before.

Kon gasped at hope for the brief moment he saw movement of the boy's chest. That movement gave him hope and he tried a little harder… breathed for him a little more. His right hand massaged the boy's chest and pressed a bit harder, encouraging the heart to beat. But the boy had the heart of Superboy and Robin and though come young, it would take more to keep him away. The boy coughed and bucked and coughed… and saw his daddy looking over him with tears in his eyes. Tears of remembered pain from the Kryptonite and tears of the pain of a lost son. Now they were tears of unbridled joy. The little lad weakly reached up a hand to Kon's cheek and touched a tear.

Tim made his peace and struck his final blow… then he heard that single word.

"FATHER"

It was so soft and weak… but he knew he heard it, not imagined. He dared to look behind him and saw a small hand touch his husband's cheek. He laughed madly… he had his life again… He struck Match once again, driving him through the window high above Metropolis… Robin ran back to his husband to see the beautiful young lad in his arms who had survived.

Robin let out a laughing cry of release and joy… their son had survived.


	2. Chapter 2

Tim ducked out of their Volvo in the basement parking garage and into the shadows far beneath the building with the rooftop penthouse that he and Kon now called home. Fortunately, they had a private elevator to their home. Owning the building had its advantages, the young vigilante thought. Kon was dressed in his office clothes, but Tim hadn't had a chance to change from his uniform and with the damage at CADMUS, and they had already attracted enough attention. Stepping into the elevator, Tim entered their security code and held the door while Kon carefully carried his bundle in. They waited impatiently for the elevator car to make its long ride to the top and open into the foyer of their home. He strode carefully, almost drifting, down the far hallway and into a bright bedroom that wasn't just a riot of color, but rather looked like an armed uprising of a giant box of crayons. Bart had decorated it with the best of intentions. They preferred more subdued colors, but Bart knew what kids liked. He might have grown a little older, but it was unlikely that the lively speedster would ever grow up. Sounds coming down the hall grew in volume as Bart himself came in carefully carrying an armload of compact equipment and medical supplies.

"I got everything you asked for Tim. Is…. Is he okay?" the speedster asks nervously as Kon pulls the small hospital blanket off his bundle and lays the boy on his new bed.

"I think so. He seems to be sleeping normally now. We weren't going to decant him for a couple more weeks yet. Something about the existence of another cloning chamber called to Match and he destroyed the chamber with him in it. He had a little more growing to do, but if there are no other problems he should be okay. The accelerated growth might be uncomfortable for him out of the chamber until he reaches the age we intended."

All the time, Tim just stands to the side watching Kon's extraordinarily strong hands tend the boy so very gently. Bart sets up the small portable medical monitor that he retrieved from Tim's study, and stacked the other supplies to the side. They were generally well-stocked in medical supplies since Tim wasn't a metahuman and he often received wounds that needed medical treatment and they couldn't very well take him to a hospital.

"Bart, did you bring some clothes with you like we asked?" Tim asked their younger friend. They had called ahead in the car on the way home and has asked Bart to bring some things of his.

"Yeah, I still have most of my clothes from when I made it back here." He responded. What he meant was 'when he made it back in time' and the speedster was just a small lad himself.

"Could you bring him something he can sleep comfortably in?"

Bart disappears from the room in a backdraft of air and runs to the guestroom where he left the bags of things he brought. Kon looks up from the deeply sleeping boy and over to his husband and the look in his eyes is utterly heartbreaking in its beauty. Delight and wonder dance with a fierce love and protectiveness in the deep blue eyes and he says softly to his husband:

"Honey… come see our son."

Tim pulls off his gloves and lets them drop to the floor and peels the mask away from his eyes and steps over to the edge of the bed and reaches down and carefully takes a small hand in his. In his sleep, the little boy gripped his father's hand tightly… and rather strongly. Not much could move Tim after the years of fighting and loss he had experienced. But the beautiful lad with dark brown hair and angelic face was enough to melt any barrier. The two new fathers looked at one-another with such a look of wonder, joy, and love. It was a look only for each other that wrote volumes in a way that no spoken words could.

"Let's get him cleaned up." Kon said then he and Tim carefully pulled the solar suit off their son. He only had half of the Kryptonian DNA that Kon did, but Kon thought that it would be enough that the solar suit would help him as his grew in the chamber. With a couple of damp cloths, they carefully cleaned him up and wiped away the gelling remains of the fluid from the cloning chamber.

"Oh my God!... he's perfectly adorable." Bart softly said from behind them. They were so focused on the boy that they had heard his return. The two young heroes shifted aside to make a little room and let Bart get a closer look. His bright amber eyes grew wider and wider in delight. In the future he had known, and had saved, births were almost causes for grief considering the future every human being had, but this was completely different. He was seeing life in a new and wonderful way.

"You didn't bring Jamie with you?" Tim asked as he started to carefully set aside the small solar suit so he could wash it and save as a memento, alongside Conner's that he had kept.

"Oh, he's here. Just before you came up he went topside with Wolf to let him do his business and get some air. He thought "big and fluffy" might scare him."

What Bart called 'Topside' was the roof of the second level of the expansive penthouse. The roof had bright green grassy lawns and gardens above the city of Metropolis. They had an extraordinary outdoor kitchen where Kon loved to grill, and an herb garden that Tim alone tended do. He loved the fresh herbs for cooking when he had the time… and had started dabbling in some rarer and more dubious herbs that he could use in his crime-fighting pursuits. Kon didn't always know which was which so only Tim messed with it… for everyone's sake.

Bart handed over some of the things he brought and Tim and Kon carefully dressed put the borrowed underclothes and pajamas on him and pulled the blankets up to his shoulders. Bart had a permanent sense of cuteness and had brought his footie pajamas that he wore for a short time before he outgrew them. Tim noticed that even though he was a skinny little thing (like Tim was at that age), he seemed to weigh quite a bit which was probably due to Kon's DNA. Kon heard someone sigh in delight and looked over his shoulder just as Jamie softly say to himself:

" _Madre de Dios!_ _Es un niño hermoso!"_ [Mother of God, he's a beautiful boy!]

In his excitement he reverted back to the Spanish of his birth that he hardly used anymore. All by themselves, Jamie's fingers found Bart's and they twined together and they held hands while they looked on their new little friend. Wolf slowly loped around to the opposite side of the bed and craned his enormous head forward and sniffed at the sleeping boy's hair. Wolf was an intelligent sentient creature, but he was still an enormous wolf and the two of them looked on carefully while Wolf examined the sleeping lad. Suddenly the bed creaked slightly as the giant canine stepped up and onto the bed… and quietly laid down. Kon was about to shoo him off until Tim touched his shoulder and softly said:

"Look honey!"

Wolf curled up around the small sleeping boy and looked at the four young men in the room as if to say: 'I'm protecting him now, go take care of whatever you need to.' They could barely pull themselves away while their son slept in his deep preternatural sleep. Bart grinned while silent tears slid down his cheeks, as did Jamie, though he tried to hide it behind his Latin bravado. But you could see the love in his glistening black eyes and a suddenly fierce protectiveness. Every so often, Tim or Kon would pull away from their embrace to check his pulse or his breathing, just wanting to be certain he was healthy. But finally, they both carefully stood up from the edge of the bed and started to leave him to rest when they heard a small voice behind them:

"Daddy?"

They both bolted back to the bed's edge to find their son sleepily looking up at them with his bright green eyes and his small arms held out for a hug. Tim got there first and finally got to really hold his little boy. He wrapped his own slim but strong arms around him and the little lad almost immediately fell back to sleep in the young vigilante's embrace. The only other time they had seen a smile like that on Tim's face was his wedding day. But it was becoming clear that they couldn't leave him alone at the moment, so Tim carefully carried their son into the large but comfortable living room and laid the boy on the couch. Kon brought a small pillow and blanket and tucked him in comfortably and Bart turned on the television with the volume way down and turned it to Ben 10 cartoons. Wolf loped over and laid down on the floor in front of the couch and went right to sleep. In his sleep, the little boy's hand drifted out from under the blanket and petted Wolf's head on the floor next to him.

Kon forced himself away to head over to the adjacent kitchen and put on some coffee while Tim quickly changed out of his uniform. The four heroes found themselves comfortable seats to the side of the great room, but where they could keep an eye on the sleeping lad, and quietly sipped their coffee until Kon finally broke the silence.

"Would you guys mind staying for a few days and help us with…"

"Conner." Tim interjects.

"Huh?"

"His name is Conner." Tim repeats emphatically.

"I was thinking Jack." Kon says and sees Tim melt a little bit, since Jackson was Tim's father's name.

"No… I think Conner is better." Tim says with finality; and there wasn't much chance of changing his mind when he got this way.

"Okay, but he didn't get the green eyes and brown hair from me so it comes from your side of the family. His last name should be Drake."

"Really guys? You didn't think of this before?" Jamie asks.

"Well no." Tim answers sheepishly. "We picked out schools, activities, clothes (though we haven't bought them yet), but somehow we forgot a name. We even picked out a couple of uncles." He says with a smile looking at Bart and Jamie.

"I want to be a big brother! That's more fun!" Bart exclaims, then slams his hand over his mouth for fear that he woke the boy. "He's already going to have a bunch of uncles."

"Good point." Tim responds with a smile. "Whichever works for you."

"Woohoo!" Bart says softly with a grin. "Besides, he's already wearing my hand-me-downs… kind of a big-brother thing."

The discussions among the two couples continue long into the night. Bart and Jamie finally trudged off to the guestroom to get some sleep and Tim and Kon dozed off in arm-chairs near the couch where their son slept. Sometime in the night Bart and Jamie trudged their way back into the great room dragging blankets behind them and Bart softly vibrated his hand on Tim's shoulder to nudge him awake, while Jamie woke Kon.

"Go get some sleep hermano." Jamie softly said. "We'll look after him. You need some proper sleep."

The two heroes who inspired and protected the citizens of Gotham and Metropolis as Superboy and Red Robin now did the most domestic of things: they dragged themselves out of their chairs and gave their son a kiss on the cheek and a hug to their friends and went to bed, having been awake and weary for almost two days.

Hours later found the bright late-morning sun beaming into the windows over the bed. Tim wearily pried his eyes open to discover little Conner curled up between them on the bed, right in the center of the sunbeam. Apparently he did have some of his Daddy's attributes as he had more color to his face and was half awake looking fondly at his father. Neither one said a word, but the little boy pulled himself closer to Tim and laid his head on his shoulder and went back to sleep. Tim closed his eyes and let a few tears of unbridled joy drip from between his eyelids and he wrapped his arms around his son and drifted back off himself.

XXXXXXXXXX

Some time later, Tim woke up to an empty bed. It was momentarily that half-awake sensation where you wonder if what you experienced earlier was a dream. He looked about the bedroom and both Kon and little Conner were gone… but he heard laughter from down the hall. Well, there was nothing for it. He climbed out of bed, pulled on a pair of lounge pants and a t-shirt, and headed towards the kitchen and laughter in search of his husband and son… and coffee.

He was greeted with giggles as Kon handed him a steaming cup of coffee, which he sorely needed. Conner appeared to be the very picture of health. He was bright-eyed, laughing, active… and making a mess of the breakfast table with Bart.

"Hey Tim… little Conner is making my boyfriend stupider." Jamie says with a smile.

Tim's smile eats up his face as Conner's spoon drops with a clang into his bowl of Coco Pebbles and shrieks "Father!" and runs to Tim and hugs him fiercely. Tim manages to keep breathing while in the grip of his son, but if he couldn't have breathed, he could die happy before letting the hug end. But the little lad finally relents and Tim gives his son a kiss and tells him:

"You might have to be careful son. You're stronger than you think."

"That's what daddy said too. I'm sorry."

"Never be sorry for a good hug." And he hugs his son again, but this time he notices that he is more careful. The hug is firm and full of love, but not so crushing. He then to managed to get a kiss from his husband whose eyes are full of love and wonder.

"So, Conner, would you like to go shopping? We need to get you some clothes and some things for school, you know."

Tim then has to try to keep his coffee from spewing through his nose when he hears: "Can Bart come too? He says he knows what the cool stuff is. But why do I have to go to school? Didn't daddy make me smarter… before I was awake?"

Shopping with Bart was always an experience, but shopping for little Conner with Bart in tow was certainly going to be epic. But he also heard another thing in the boy's comment. 'Before I was awake' might just be how he could accept that he was not a normally born boy like others. He suddenly thought: "Eat your heart out Gepetto… we got a real boy. Pinnochio's a slacker."

"Yes, you are smarter. But you will make a lot of friends and learn a lot of things that you can't find out in books or computers. So, why don't you get dressed while I get woke up, okay son? And then we'll go have some fun." And Tim's heart pounded as he still wondered if he was dreaming or not.

"Okay!" he says brightly and then grabs Bart by the hand and heads down the hall to get dressed. He hoped that Bart had used some sense when he brought clothes for the boy. He wasn't known for modesty, but he had been running about in boxer-briefs which for him was downright modest as hell. But the upside… he loved his daddies and had already made friends with Bart, which was pretty much expected. The boy was healthy, smart, and adapting real well. He would do a lot of growing in a short time, so shopping might be a weekly thing for a while. Tim thought about the impact that would have on his credit cards. Sure, he could afford it, but he was still somewhat frugal by nature. But also… there was another thing to plan for. There was a whole Team of heroes… friends really… more like family that would want to meet Tim and Kon's son. Had to play that by ear since he was already one step away from spoiled rotten in just a day.

Tim finally has a chance to talk to his husband and asks: "How did he recover so fast? It's wonderful, but is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I wondered too. But apparently when he crawled into bed in the night he caught the right spot to get a lot of 'natural' sunlight in the morning. Not sunlamps and radiation emitters like I used in the lab, but real sunlight. It's already made up for the weakness of his being decanted too early."

"It's wonderful. He's a beautiful little boy and looks a lot like you in the face." Tim says with pride.

"Yeah, but he got your feistiness and his hair and eyes certainly aren't mine."

"I thought about that. We both have black hair and blue eyes, but my grandfather had brown hair and green eyes. He was known as being quite handsome in his youth."

"See... told you!" Kon says proudly now that they sorted out the mutual influences.

XXXXXXXXX

Half an hour later found the family along with Bart and Jamie in the car heading to the mall. For a boy who had no personal knowledge of human society he caught on pretty well since he took Bart by the hand and bolted for the mall entrance, then stopped.

"Daddy… is it okay if me and Bart go shopping?" Conner asked.

"Sure son, you two go have fun… but wait… take this." And Kon handed the boy a brand new cellphone. "Bart can show you how it works. Just call us so we know how to find you, okay?"

"Thanks Dad!" Conner says and then bolts of into the mall with the speedster in tow.

Jamie follows along behind Tim and Kon, kinda feeling left out since his boyfriend ran off with the new boy. But Kon is very familiar with feeling like an outsider, especially when he was first rescued, and pulls Jamie next to him and asks his advice.

"Okay… maybe you don't know what kids like, but you know what Bart likes; and he's still a kid at heart. What toys do you think he would like?"

"You know I love you guys, right?" Jamie asks.

"Of course Jamie, why?" Tim asks.

"I think he already knows some things… like naturally knows." Jamie answers carefully. "Bart put on the Transformers movie this morning and little Conner loved it. He said that he liked that there were heroes that were normal people but no one knew about them; and that even normal people did good things."

"Oops…" Kon said.

"Tim… you did not tell him about your other job, did you?" The handsome young man who was Blue Beetle asked.

"No… we wanted to be a normal family."

"Hermano, do you think your son would be ashamed about how you and Kon and Bart saved my life, or saved all those kids in Suicide Slums? I do not think so. My father was…. not a good man, but you are. You and Kon both. Let your son be proud of you."

Tim gives his friend's words a lot of thought for a moment and says:

"We want him to have a normal life and be a normal and, hopefully, happy boy." Tim says

"Maybe I am saying too much, but I love you so I'll take the chance…"

"Go ahead Jamie, you can't hurt my feelings. I know how much you love us;… and we love you too." Tim answers with a friendly pat on the shoulder.

"Conner will probably try to do something heroic even without knowing about us. It might be better if he knows and you and Kon train him right and help him use his natural gifts of your reflexes and intelligence and Kon's strength and dedication."

"Jamie… I don't want him to be caught up in the pain and hazard that so much of the Titans has had to deal with." Tim says.

Jamie takes Tim's hand and stops right in the middle of the mall and looks his dear friend in the eye and says:

"Tim… many of our enemies know who we really are… and they will learn that you have a son. It can be a way for them to hurt you."

 _No one will hurt the Conner Drake. We will prevent it, Jamie Reyes._ Jamie heard the sibilant voice in his mind. He agreed 100% with the Beetle symbiote but now was not the time to tell his symbiote that he was trying to explain it gently to his friend.

Tim turns about to Jamie and says: "Then what the hell do you think we should do? Put him in a uniform and put him on missions?"

"Honey… I think you missed what he means." Kon says returning to the two. "Jamie is right. Conner is naturally strong, but he is innocent and trusting and we do have enemies that will use him against us. We did not think of that. Many of our friends gave him their knowledge and teaching during his growth, but he should know how to handle himself in case someone comes after him to get to us."

"I wanted him to be a normal and happy boy, like I never had a chance to be." Tim says sadly

"Tim! How dare you!... He has love... he has a family… he already has friends, like Bart… he is smart and strong… he has people who will look after him besides us. He is a normal and happy boy." Kon chastises his husband. "But do you want him to be a victim?"

"Never!" Tim answers then calms again. "You're right Jamie, and you too Kon… I guess I didn't think about him being OUR son. I understand. We should love and protect him no matter what. And, you are right Jamie… we hide from the public, but Kon and I would be horribly wrong to hide from our own son…"

"So we train him and let him be what his heart desires." And Tim's heart beats harder, telling on him as he thinks about fighting evil with his husband at his side along with their son.

"Titans hell… think about what the Drake-Kent family would be like!"

"That's better, my friend." Jamie answers.

"When did you become a family counselor Jamie?" Tim asks as Kon stands silent feeling vindicated.

"I'm not… but I know a good family when I see it."

"Well, we are glad you are a part of it." Tim responds and gives the handsome young dusky lad a hug… and then notices mall security running down the corridor to the department store.

"I don't think we need to wonder what that is all about." Kon said seeing the rent-a-cops.

XXXXXXXXX

"This looks expensive." Conner says as he enters the department store.

"Maybe, but your daddies can afford it, big time. Don't you think they want you to have nice clothes?" Bart answers as he grabs a cart.

"I guess… "He answers uncertainly.

Bart and Conner run right to the boys' department and start looking at clothes to buy. Bart's a fashionista and is already considering what will look best on his adorable little brother and decides to work from one end to the other.

"Okay… underwear, t-shirts, and socks…"

"I don't want to look stupid." Conner states plainly, but keeps looking to Bart for advice.

"No worries… tell me a few things and I'll help… do you like fun socks?"

"Yeah, I think so. I'm not sure what it is that I'm supposed to like." He answers, almost sadly.

Bart being the most openly affectionate of all the friends and family stopped dead in his tracks. He turned around facing the small boy and went down on a knee to not stand over Conner and held his hands and his amber eyes bore into the confused green eyes of his little friend.

"What do you mean supposed? Do you think because you were "born" different that you don't decide for yourself?"

"Daddies made me, didn't they?" He asked a little sad and confused.

"Okay Conner… so you think that you're like a car they picked out and want the right upholstery and paint job and cool rims and the best stereo?"

Conner starts to shudder a bit and bites on his bottom lip like he was trying not to cry. Seeing his reaction, Bart knows he hit a nerve and isn't sure if he should take the strong approach (not that his soft-hearted personality would be any good at it) or the tender approach, so he tried to do both at once, which really meant as strong as he thought right for the confused boy.

"Conner… you are no different from other boys. It takes two people to make a child. The only difference is that your daddies did it a different way, a much harder way. That shows how much they love you. But they would want you to be your own person with your own personality. I know that much. They took care of me after I was hurt very bad by someone. They helped me be what I am now. They never tried to change me in any way at all. They would want you to be yourself too. So, do you understand? You were made from love, now show that love back and be a strong young man and try to find out what you like and surprise them."

"Bart? Is that why they like you, because you're so smart?" The small child of heroes asked his new friend.

"Well, yes. But maybe it's because by being myself they can love the real me and I can love them back."

Conner wraps his little arms around Bart's neck in a hug and says "Yes, I think I might like fun socks."

"Great, they have lots of stuff that looks fun." And Bart exhales in a minor crisis dodged and decided he was doing pretty good for a big brother.

The speedster and his little friend and brother pick out a selection of colorful socks and a couple packages of regular socks for school. The speedster had to force himself to be a little bit practical… and I mean really concentrate on it, so after picking out some great colored t-shirts to match the socks, he also picked out a large package of white t-shirts as well. Moving down the next section, Bart wonders that no one in the store has offered to help them find anything. Maybe the service there is just missing, until a young severe looking lady turns the corner and offers her help. Bart face-palms… here he is with what looks like a little kid, and himself looking younger than he is, picking out underwear in the boy's department of the store. 'Oh god, please go away' Bart thinks to himself before the woman gets a stern self-righteous look on her face seeing the slim and spry speedster helping a little kid pick out underwear.

"I really don't think this is appropriate! Where is this boy's parents? I'm calling security."

Now, in addition to all his powers of speed and the extraordinary benefits it gave him, he had another skill... being a smart-alec. Often it sent enemies into a blind rage and took away their ability to think and calculate, and sometimes, it just shut someone up. But this time, he had his own reputation and the reputation of the boy he already adored to think about. He carefully turned to face the woman and directed his bright amber eyes at her and just let fly.

"Really lady? What is wrong with you that you you make the worst possible assumption about people inside of a few seconds? Is that really where your mind went? Maybe you should have your head checked. Can't a guy help his little brother buy some clothes? So, while his very wealthy father tries to decide if this store is worth buying why don't you go back to your counter and stuff that attitude back into that giant purse you drag around with the last vestiges of your shattered life and contemplate whether or not you will have a job in 30 minutes."

Conner stands awe-struck at the calmly spoken tirade and finally says as the sales lady slinks off: "Wow Bart, that was awesome! How do you do that? Can you teach me how to tell people off like that?"

"Just stick with me kiddo. I'll teach you plenty." Bart responds with a grin as they turn their attention back to clothing and forget about the clerk.

"This! I like these!" Conner says happily as he pulls a package off the rack. It's a package of Ben 10 briefs in bright green and white.

"He has a cute sister too. Her name is Gwen." Bart tells the boy just to see if he's wrong about something. The speedster had excellent instincts for certain things.

"So… I think he's better!" And… maybe Bart isn't wrong he thing to himself with a supressed laugh. Maybe it's genetic? But he lets Con put three packages of Ben 10 undies in the cart, along with one of Star Wars Rebels. Feeling scandalized and vindicated at the same time, they move on to shoes and clothes. Bart managed to talk Con out of the size 5 Doc Martin boots. Sure, they were fiercely cute, but he might grow out of them so fast that it would depress him if he didn't get to wear them much. But Bart did find the last pair of 'Justice League' Converse sneakers that they had in Conner's size, which he was excited to find. But Bart was… Bart; so helped Conner find a few pairs of jeans and some slacks, but were almost all skinny cut. But Con was a pretty skinny boy and they did look quite handsome on him. Unfortunately, Bart knew he had to get Conner some school uniforms, so khakis, white shirts, and blue sweaters went into the cart… and to the changing room before they checked out. Conner looked like the perfect little school boy when wanted to, but even though he was only 2 days old and and looked 12 and had the brains of any adult, he still seemed to like darker colors on the surface and the bright colors hidden. He was certainly going to be complex and was showing a facet of Tim's personality. Tim could be dark and severe on the outside, until you got to know him, then was the brightest most loving person you could find.

Just as the two are about to head to the counter to pay for Con's clothes, the boy sees a shifty looking man snatch a wealthy-looking woman's purse and head for the exit.

"Bart… he stole from her!" He says in a whisper to his friend as he let go of the speedster's hand.

"Who… what?" Bart answers, having not seen the theft. But Conner did, and chose to do something about it and followed the thief and confronted him.

"That's not your stuff and I think she wants it back." Conner said standing straight with his shoulders back. Bart just hung his head thinking 'that's not how you do it… no style.'"

"Bugger off you little rotter!" The thief answered, then took one look at the young boy and laughed… and made a big mistake. Conner didn't know much just yet, but he did want to be taken seriously. He reached for the purse strap and the thief slapped him aside like an irritation. Conner didn't fall the way he expected and his hand hurt much more than he expected.

"It's not yours!" Conner said a little louder, now with a grip on the purse strap.

Bart had fought through Suicide Slums and Warworld and endured a personal trial to save Jamie, to say nothing of his personal discovery in Superman's Fortress of Solitude, so this was a very small thing. But now this was his little buddy and the son of his best friends. But Bart stopped himself when Con yanked on the purse strap harder and brought the thief to eye level.

"You're a bad man!" The boy stated with determination.

The thief was unsure about really hitting a kid… but finally made up his mind. That moment would rent space in Bart's head for some time. The thug thought it would be easy… beat aside the boy in his new clothes that got in his way. It didn't work out. When he tried to hurt the boy, he only hurt himself. Conner Jr. hooked the thief's ankle with his foot and dropped him like a sack of potatoes on the hard marble floor. Conner then picked up the purse off the floor and returned it to the lady who owned it. Bart could have immediately intervened but he was so caught up in seeing the boy stand up to the purse-snatcher that he didn't move a muscle.

Within moments, Tim and Kon… with Jamie close behind, came to the department store just in time to see a police officer tighten the handcuffs on the thief.

"Bart, I thought you were supposed to keep him out of trouble?" Tim quietly asked the speedster, who was doing his best to keep a straight face.

"It was all him, Tim, I promise." Bart answered honestly.

"I told you hermanos. I don't think you'll keep up with him easily." Jamie said smugly to the hero couple, then went to Bart while Conner showed his daddies all the nice clothes he had picked out with Bart's help.

"Daddy…" Conner said earnestly "Bart said Jamie wanted to take me to another store for stuff. Is that okay?" And the charming boy looked up at Kon with his bright green eyes in a pleading look that seemed too much like he and Bart were conspiring against him. But Tim and Kon had no defenses against such an emotional assault.

"Sure son, but let's see if Bart and Jamie can save some time for us to spend with you too, okay?" Kon responds, while Bart deftly tucks Tim's credit card in Jamie's back pocket, the one he had been carrying since their trip to Disney World. But if he thought his clumsy attempt at sleight-of-hand fooled Tim he was mistaken. He did notice it and found it endearing.

"Thank you daddy… I love you." The boy says in abject gratitude and hugs his fathers tight. Neither Tim nor Kon release the hug too fast, for the love of a son was something each had privately dreamed of when they themselves were practically kids, long before they discussed it themselves. But you would never have believed Jamie's reaction had you seen it. The gentle affection and kindness in his heart was seen by so few. The family and Team knew him better and was blessed to only know the real Jamie. He came from a rough neighborhood and a culture that required a man to act in certain ways, but the somewhat macho young Latin teen eagerly took Conner's hand and led him to the next store that he wanted to show him and smiled the whole way. Conner was having a great time with all the attention he was getting and was becoming very comfortable with his friends, enough that he asked:

"Jamie… can I have a ride?"

The handsome Hispanic boy answered: "If you want, though other kids here might think your being silly."

"So… they will just be jealous that they don't have a friend like you." Conner said plainly; and Jamie then pulled him up onto his shoulders. How could you argue with that logic? And he walked down the aisle with Conner on his shoulders proudly.

"Oh, oh, oh… Jamie! A candy store… can we go in?" Conner asked kicking his feet in excitement, and then slid off his shoulders deftly and landed silently on flat feet. Jamie wondered for a moment how an untrained kid could be so silent in new shoes on a mall floor and do it so naturally, but the thought didn't last long as he was dragged into the store by the hand amidst the laughter of the young clone. But was he a true clone? He was the combination of two people who loved each other and wanted that love to endure through another generation. Maybe 'clone' was too simplistic a term, just as the boy could not be defined too simplistically either. He was already naturally adapting to open society and was open to all the experiences with a sense of wonder.

The senses were assaulted by every candy and confection known to the little boy… candy of every color and flavor. Jamie liked candy as much as the next guy, but didn't know what to do as the young son of his hero friends dragged him about the store staring at every colorful bit of delight he could find, until a very pretty girl rescued him.

"Would your little brother like to try something?" The sales associate asked. She was a very pretty girl and dressed in a decidedly anime style in vibrant patterns of white, red and black. She wore it bright and her hair in pigtails, like she was trying to be as colorful and sweet as the candy. The look she gave him was certainly award-winning, but Jamie only thought about Bart who looked like a red and white candy cane when he was dressed for action as Impulse. But what made her the most charming was how she treated Conner.

"I'm Haley… what's your name?" She said sweetly.

"Conner… ma'am."

"Ma'am! Well aren't you a handsome and polite little guy!" The assistant said.

Conner blushed a little bit until his attention was taken away by the delight of the place and she took him about and helped him pick out some candy. Minutes later she brought him back to Jamie with a big bag of Peanut M&Ms that he had picked out in his favorite colors... and a bag of gummy candy in the shape of shields. The dusky hero pulled Tim's credit card out and paid for the purchase and the girl said:

"Bring your brother back any time. He's such a nice kid." But her eyes never left Jamie's handsome features. But she would have to be blind to think Conner Jr. was his brother. Jamie had raven black hair and mysterious and sexy black eyes, nothing like the boy.

"I think we'll have him through here often enough." He said honestly.

"We?" Haley asked.

"Yeah, my boyfriend is his big brother. I'm the 'uncle' that gets to spoil him." Jamie says with a satisfied smile. The poor girl gets all deflated, but she's gotten used to it. The poor thing has never been able to nail down a nice guy, and her self-steem has gotten worse since she found out who her birth mother was. But she tried not to bring her personal life to work, which was hard to do in a place like this.

"Thank you Haley." Junior (which Jamie was already calling the boy) happily said to the girl.

"You're welcome Conner. You take good care of your friend, okay?"

"I sure will." And little Conner flashed her such a smile that she was instantly at ease. In fact, it was becoming a habit for the young lad.

They left the candy store and just before they reached Jamie's destination, they went into the restroom to clean the candy residue off his hands. Conner decided he liked the Peanut M&Ms most. It was peanuts, chocolate, and candy all at once… basically perfect. But the interaction was something none would have suspected. More than a few enemies had seen Jamie on the wrong side of his sonic cannon while he was encased in his symbiotic armor as Blue Beetle, but he was as fun and gentle as he endured being splashed by Con while he cleaned the chocolate off his hands while they both laughed.

All tidied up and refreshed, they walked the last 50 meters to the store Jamie wanted to take him to. There was lively music playing inside but it was slightly dark as was the color of most of the clothing. There were things they sold that Jamie would steer his friend from, but there was a specific reason, besides cool t-shirts and accessories, for Jamie bringing him to Hawt Topiks. Conner's jaw hit the floor in a sense of wonder… and maybe in recognition. Jamie managed to catch the bag of candy from his hand before he dropped it in shock.

The little boy felt something comfortable in the store. It was quite small, but packed with slightly punky clothing and accessories. T-shirts, jewelry, and odd bits were everywhere. The music faded to "Youth" by Disco Fries and Conner was delightd in the place that normally would have been meant for older kids and young adults. For a moment, Jamie misunderstood his reaction and thought he might have made a big mistake by bringing him here. But the t-shirt collection was epic and Conner already found what he wanted. He frantically but neatly started sorting through the stacks and asked:

"Jamie, what's my size? I want both of them!"

And the hero turned uncle saw that the shirts he was picking out had red S-shields of Superboy and Robin's logo. They had long been cult heroes and their son was desperate for the gear. He got t-shirts of both styles… especially the Superboy ones, but he almost shrieked when he found the last Robin cap in the store. After a few other items, they headed out and the boy looked up to his friend with his bright green eyes and asked:

"Jamie, can we go to that Justus store we saw on the way here? I want some pants to go with this. I think daddies would like it."

Jamie wasn't sure what he meant, but he saw what was happening and was torn between keeping the precocious kid in reign or letting him be himself. He decided to do his best and let the boy be himself and try to keep Tim and Kon from going ballistic later. In Justus, Conner found a pair of pants and shoes that wanted to go with his t-shirt and cap. After paying for the clothes, Jamie followed him into their dressing room and helped the kid change… and hoped he would survive the afternoon, and took him to the food court to meet his dads and Bart for lunch. And he hoped like hell that not restraining the boy's interest wouldn't get him in trouble with his friends.

When they first came along, Bart saw his boyfriend with a really cute and charming boy in serious fan-gear, until he realized it was little Conner. Tim and Kon almost came out of their seats in the mall food court when they heard Bart's squeal, then they saw their little boy… and they squealed along with him. Conner had changed into a long-sleeved black Superboy t-shirt and slim black cotton pants with a series of cool straps running down the legs that narrowed to high-top sneakers. He had a seatbelt style belt with Superboy's logo and a chained wallet with Robin's symbol on it. Jamie had thought to put a little money in it to give him something for himself, and set his Robin cap on his head and made sure his hair looked just right around it, and finished it off with a pair of black sunglasses just like Tim usually wore in public.

In a way, he had all the attitude of a young John Conner from Terminator, and the looks of a boyband mascot, but with an earnest intensity that was trying to understand himself, but wore his innocent strength so naturally.

For a moment, the young clone of heroes stood still and asked:

"Does this look okay, daddies?" He asked with eyes that were hoping so, even behind the glasses. He wanted his dads to be proud of them, and they already were. Tim and Kon felt what every parent must feel at some point: that they had given the world something wonderful.

XXXXXXXXXX

After a quick lunch they make the short drive to the toy store near the mall. Tim can literally feel their son vibrate in excitement as they park and then he looks over his shoulder to the back seat to find that its Bart vibrating in delight with a stupid grin. Tim and Kon had intended to get some "educational" toys, but never had the chance since Bart grabbed Junior's hand and bolted to the the store the moment the car stopped.

"I told you he was making my boyfriend stupider." Jamie said laughing.

In the end, he ended up with action figures, Legos, a very large Erector set, and a multitude of other things. He plopped himself into about 20 different beanbags before finding the right one; and then we he thought no one was looking, he put a satin mask and cape dress-up set in the cart. But Jamie happened to see it out of the corner of his eye and thought to himself "I told you hermanos."

With their shopping complete... for now, they decided to make a detour on the way home while Junior dozed happily in the back seat between Bart and Jamie. The moment the car came to a stop, Junior wole bright-eyed and follows his parents into the Emporium. As usual, Calvin was spending his afternoons after school at the store helping Brett out. He looked up from tidying the spinning comic book rack when the doorbell jangled and Tim and Kon (who he knew quite well) walk in with an adorable kid in serious fangear. Junior pulled off his sunglasses and propped them up on his head over his cap and looked about with bright green curious eyes. Calvin's jaw hit the floor and his hand hit the call bell on the counter... a lot... an awful lot.

"Calvin, can you get that?" The familiar voice of Brett calls from the back room. The bell keeps ringing for a couple seconds longer, then suddenly stops. He runs over and sticks out his small hand and says "Hi, I'm Calvin." Junior shakes his hand and says "I'm Conner, but I guess you can call me Junior since its Daddy's name too."

Calvin looks up at Tim and Kon and silently mouthed the word "Daddy's?" The two heroes both nod their heads vigorously with silly grins on their faces in affirmation. Calvin takes a second to wrap his mind around the news and then grabs Junior's hand and drags him to the other side of the store.

"Uh...hello?" Bart asks the empty air. Calvin rushes back with a giggle and gives his speedster friend a hug and then goes back to Conner.

"Hey guys! What's going on?" Brett says as he comes out from the back room with a stack of new magazines to stock the racks.

"Hi Brett." Conner greets their friend as they all exchange hugs. "We thought we'd bring someone by and see if he and Calvin would get along. He hasn't had a chance to make any friends his own age.

"Poor guy, how couldn't he? What is he, a test tube baby or something? What is he, 12-ish, and no friends?" Then Brett sees the lad's face at a distance as Calvin pours yet another cup of coffee for Junior. He seemed to look a little like Conner, but with the thinner wirey frame of Tim...

"Oh God guys... I didn't mean it like that... I didn't realize... crap..." For a moment Brett feels like he's insulted his friends in the worst way, but Tim and Kon both chuckle at his error.

"Conner, come over and meet Brett. He's the owner of this shop." Tim calls out to his son, and the spry boy comes back to the front of the store with a cup of coffee in one hand and a magazine in another with Calvin close behind him. Calvin quickly grabs Junior's cup as he fumbles trying to be polite with both hands full, and once he has one free he shakes Brett's hand. Brett takes a long look at the boy and sees the influence of both fathers in him. He has the innocent playfulness that Kon often showed and the intensity and sincerity of Tim. His features were Kon's, and yet the hair and eyes, even if they were different colors than Tim's, somehow still reminded him of Tim.

"Good to meet you Conner. Are you and Calvin getting along okay?"

"Yes sir. He's my new friend." Junior says with a bright award-winning smile, matched only by Calvin's."

"Go easy on the coffee son. You don't want it to keep you up all night." Tim cautions him.

"Oh, Father... this picture looks nothing like you. They need a better artist." And the boy hands his father a tabloid with an artist's drawing of Robin.

Just behind him Jamie chokes on a laugh and says "I told you so." and pats both his friends on the shoulder as he walks past them.

XXXXXXXXXX

It had been a very long day for the family, and wasn't quite over yet. They said their goodbyes at the Emporium, along with a promise from Calvin to come visit, and they drove home. Little Conner was dead asleep in the car and Tim carefully picked him up from the back seat and held him close and carried him to the elevator. Bart carried up several large bags of clothes and Jamie and Kon got the rest, which comprised the heaviest stuff since they were the strongest.

The group of friends silently made their way into the penthouse to find Bruce Wayne silently sipping a cup of coffee and reading a newspaper in the living room, waitin for them. He sets the paper down and seeing the sleeping boy in Tim's arms he quietly sets down his paper and walks over toward his son and looks at his... grandson... for the first time. The realization is a lot for the Dark Knight, but it is a pleasant one.

"When were you going to tell me?" Bruce asks in a whisper.

"When we were sure he was going to be okay. If it wasn't it would be hard enough on us, we didn't want to spread the worry."

Bruce Wayne wrapped his broad arms around Tim with little Conner between them and just silently held them for a moment before reluctantly letting them go.

"Go get him to bed, I'll see to this stuff with the boys." Bruce tells his son. Tim and Kon get Junior into bed and with a round of hugs and kisses goodnight and as they shut off the light and gently close the door they hear the soft voice of their sleepy son say: "I love you daddies."

They head back to the living room and gratefully accept cups of coffee from Bart. It had been a long day. It was just yesterday That they had saved their little boy from the mindless depredations of Match, which was a matter they had yet to resolve, not to mention an unauthorized lab in the CADMUS offices that Conner had built; and had a long day of shopping and getting Junior acquainted with some friends and the real world. It had been quite a success, all things considered, and the little lad had even foiled the simple crime of purse snatching. Bart wasa still irritated about the woman at the department store, but Kon had explained to him that some people are just nosy busibodies who dwell in their own world of self-righteousness and to blow it off. Tim, of course, would have a nice chat with a certain store manager about it.

"Okay, I want you both off patrols and missions for the next week." Bruce Wayne declares. "I know, neither of you work for me. I'm saying this as a father and now you two need to take a little time to be fathers yourselves. Kaldur can take care of your Team for a few days. You two have to get used to this yourself. You still have to get him into school and a baby shower or birthday party, whatever you want to call it, to consider... which will be tomorrow at 6:30 here."

"What?" Kon asks incredulously.

"I took the liberty of sending messages to your friends." Bruce says with a grin.

Bart and Jamie chuckle to themselves as they lay out newly purchased clothes, removing tags and getting ready to put them in the wash. Spotting the mask and cape in one of the bags of toys, Bart gives Jamie a silent look, which he responds with the glare that tells him 'don't say a word' and the speedster smiles and tucks it into the bottom of Junior's new backpack.


	3. Chapter 3

"Okay... thanks bud... Yeah, about 2 o'clock. There'll be a couple kids so we don't want it to be too late... I know its last minute, Bats told me right after he told you... Okay, love you too." Tim hangs the phone up and then hangs his head trying to wrap his mind around the hilarity of the situation, if it weren't all so sudden.

"Honey, maybe Bruce thinks the 'dive into the cold pool' method is best. It worked for him when he adopted Dick, didn't it?" Kon asks from across the room.

"Yeah, but Jason might have another opinion; and he had a lot of help from Alfred."

"That is another set of circumstances entirely. Speaking of which, did you invite him? He is Con's uncle after all and certainly would never hurt him."

"I left a message for Barbara to pass on, but I doubt he'll show. I want him to know our son if you're okay with it, but I want today to be a happy day for little Conner and our friends and family."

"Me too Tim. I understand." Kon explains as he sets down his cup of early-morning coffee. The Kryptonian clone sometimes needed a pretty good dose of coffee in the early mornings to get going before the sun was up and really fuelled him properly. "I don't think we have much time to decorate but at least I can get some pool toys and party hats on my way to pick up Calvin."

"Thank you sweetie. That's a great idea." Tim says with a sigh as he sets his own cup down. "If you can handle that then I can maybe get all of the food taken care of. We'll be feeding a fairly good number, two of them speedsters... maybe three."

"Three?" Kon asks curiously.

"Yeah, when Dad sends invites, he really sends them... and Barry is Wally's uncle and Bart's ancestor, as well as one of dad's good friends. Dad said it was kind of a big deal to everyone that we had a son. Apparently its really usual for people in our line of work to have a child."

"Tim, he's our son... not an oddity." Kon says in a calm and calculated voice.

"No, no, no... that's not what I mean. I think it gives them hope for the future. But we have that hope and a wonderful son and there's nothing wrong with letting the people who care about us share in some of our joy, now is there?"

"Of course not Tim. I just don't want him to be some spectacle."

"He's not. You know these people. They really are happy for us. I mean really!... How many people have heard Fate and J'Onn sing? But they did at our wedding. My dad is the grimmest of the bunch and you saw him last night with Con, didn't you? If you worry about his safety you can stop. Junior's collection of aunts and uncles, and great-uncles and great-aunts, will see to that... not to mention us. So stop being a worrier and pour me another cup of cup of coffee while I get Con up."

Kon fills the cup Tim sets down on the kitchen counter as the young vigilante heads down the hall to wake their son. He carefully sits on the edge of little Con's bed and just watches his boy asleep for a moment. His eyes mist up in love and wonder at this little boy they have made. Con opens his eyes and yawns cutely and then a smile eats up his face and he stretches out his hands for a hug, witch Tim gladly gives, pulling him into his arms and carrying him out of the bed.

"You ready for a big day son?"

"Yeah! I think so. A party for me you said?"

"Yep, so you can meet all our friends and maybe make some new one's yourself. It's a special day. You get one of these every year. Its called a birthday. Normally when a child is expected the parents have a party called a 'shower' before the birth. But its going to be a shower and a birthday party all at once and you have a birthday every year."

"That will be fun!" Con says happily. "Can Calvin come too? I like him. He's going to be my friend, you know." the lad asks innocently.

"Of course he is, and we like him too. I already talked to his dad. He's staying the whole weekend if you want."

"Wow, thanks daddy!" And the young clone wraps his slim little arms around his father in a hug, then Tim walks out proudly as he dodges his son bolting down the hall to the kitchen and into Kon's eager and waiting arms. Still wearing the pajamas borrowed from Bart, they both think the same thing. They helped finish raising one young man and thought they did pretty good. Bart was good and kind and heroic; and he was one of the finest people they knew. Seeing their own son in the same pajamas in their home that Bart wore was like the torch being passed to another generation, but with greater responsibility... and likely a greater fate.

Kon fixed Junior a big bowl of Cocoa Pebbles and then filled Tim's travel mug with steaming coffee. Tim almost coudn't function in the car in the morning without a steaming cup of Gevalia coffee.

"I'll give you a call from the store in case I forget something." Tim says as he pops his bluetooth earpiece in. Love you sweetie... love you too son." And he gives both the perfect guys in his life a kiss. Kon returns the kiss and Junior manages to grin at him around a mouthful of cereal.

"Don't be long. When you get back I have to run out for supplies and pick up Calvin." Kon calls to a closing door as Tim waves back and leaves.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kon got breakfast cleaned up, just in time to think he was a little premature in his cleaning. Bart and Jamie trudged out of the guest room looking for the same coffee pot Tim had polished off. Fortunately, Kon had another pot brewing. Junior had already decided he adored his young uncles who helped him with his shopping and he dove right at them for hugs, and a bit of tickling from Jamie who, it turns out, was actually great with kids. While the young couple of heroes played with their little nephew for a moment Kon poured them some coffee, which Bart added copious amounts of cream and sugar to. Jamie liked a dash of cinnamon in his, like they served in some of the nice restaurants in El Paso.

"Hey guys, could I get some of your help today? Tim and I have a lot to do and it would be easier with your help."

"Of course, hermano... anything." Jamie answers as Bart just nods stupidly while play-fighting with Junior.

"If Bart can help get Junior's laundry finished and put up and his toys put away... something I think he's quite suited to..." He says smiling. Bart would always be a big kid. "... then maybe you and I can go back to the toy store and get some pool toys and go pick up Calvin."

"No problem." Jamie answers happily and takes his cup back into the guest room to get dressed. He wasn't going to get very far in his t-shirt and boxer-briefs. While pulling on his jeans, Bart zips in and dresses in epic time and jokingly his dusky boyfriend asks:

"You and Junior going to be okay for a few hours without supervision?"

"What do you mean supervision?" Bart asks in mock petulance.

"You too are so good together. Its adorable. I love the little brat too, you know. But he reminds me of what Wally said you were like when you were younger. No wonder you get along so well."

"That's sweet Jamie, but he's got the advantage of a very loving family... an advantage I have too... and so do you." Bart responds as he leans over and gives his handsome boyfriend a gentle kiss; and Jamie responds with a squeeze of Bart's firm little butt. "Now go help Kon or he'll forget something and I'll get Junior dressed and his stuff taken care of." Bart tells him in farewell.

Minutes later, with hugs and kisses exchanged all around, Jamie and Kon head out to pick up their party supplies and pick up Junior's new friend. Jamie was a little disappointed that Kon wouldn't let him drive his beautiful vintage red truck, but wasn't really surprised either. Other than his family, that truck was really his pride and joy.

XXXXXXXXXX

"So, what do you want to wear for your party today Junior?" Bart asked Con as they filled the dresser and closet with the clothes they had bought the day before.

"I remember what you said yesterday about knowing what I really like. After looking at all the clothes, I like them all, but I want to wear black and orange. I think the orange is fun." Con answers brightly.

"Perfect! See..." Bart says as he starts sorting through drawers he's just filled "won't your dads be surprised to see you in your own style? So do you want pants or shorts?"

"Uh... jeans? Then I can change for the pool if anyone else decides to swim. Calvin will want to swim won't he?"

"Probably. His apartment building doesn't have a pool so he might enjoy swimming with you."

"Awesome! Okay jeans and that orange t-shirt with the blue stripes... and the hero shoes!"

Little Con was excited to wear another new outfit and Bart pulled out a pair of black jeans, the requested t-shirt, along with his new Star Wars undies and some bright orange socks and headed back to the kitchen to see what he could find to eat while his nephew got showered and dressed. As he passed the front door in the foyer he heard the tumblers of the lock click behind him. Both Tim and Kon had left along with Jamie, and Bart alone was left to look after little Conner... a responsibility he took quite seriously. His first thought was of Match, since they both shared a history with that tortured young man, but he didn't think he'd exactly try the door. But someone was coming and Bart waited until the front door opened just a small way and then at extraordinary speed ran to the figure that stepped through... and into a heap in the foyer.

A very classy and distinguished older gentleman retracts his cane and states in a polished English accent: "You don't think I didn't know you'd be tending the young man, did you?"

"But, Mr. Alfred... Couldn't you have knocked?" Bart asked in surprise as he tried to sort himself out.

"But that would not have been near so interesting, now would it have Master Bartholomew?"

"Well... no..." Bart answered as Alfred Pennyworth lended a hand to help the young little hero up.

"But, how did you do that? Kon's fast and he can't catch me like that." Bart asks in confusion.

"Young man... I was not always a butler, you should know... and Master Bruce was not always what he is now; and if you can understand what I just said then you are doing quite well."

"Wait... what?" Bart asked mostly to himself, but he was a pretty smart guy and it dawned on him. "Oh crap! Is that where he... Mr. Alfred!..."

"Hush young man and show me to the kitchen." Alfred commanded as he playfully touselled Bart's hair in a show of affection. The stern Englishman had raised a family of Bats, but loved the bright and cheerful air that the speedsters brought to them all.

"Uhhh... Tim's pretty jealous of his kitchen and his cooking."

"Yes, I imagine he is, and rightly so. But is he going to take care of everyone who's been invited by himself?"

"Uhhh... that depends on how many got invited. Bat... I mean Bruce only told us last night we were having a party for Conner."

"We? So, are you planning to stay and help take care of the little lad?" Alfred asks pointedly.

"Well... I have not been asked and Jamie and I just moved into the loft that Tim and Kon moved out of and gave us."

"So... No responsibilities."

"That's not true sir. We have lots of those! Jamie and I do a lot of good things."

"I see... but you still don't know the guest list, do you?"

"No sir." Bart answers sheepishly.

"Well, I will tell you that a good number of friends and family are coming to meet the young lad and I mean to take some of the burden off Timothy and Conner so they can enjoy the day with their son. But rest assured, they will know how you acted to protect their home and child... and there he is!"

And unknown to Bart, little Conner had come up behind him fully dressed into the foyer to see what the ruckus was all about.

"Are you a friend of father's?" The little clone asked.

"Yes, young man, I certainly am. I'm Alfred." the elderly butler answered as he knelt to look the boy in the eye. "I am a friend of both your fathers, and of your grandfather too. I am Alfred and I would like you to trust me and I will try to earn your trust." and he shakes Con's little hand with his thin older hand that still has more than a bit of its strength from his younger days.

"Trust me, you can!" Bart answers brightly until he's deflated by the slight glare Alfred gives him.

"Well, if Bart likes you and Daddy and Father do, then I will." Junior answers.

"Yes... well Bart does have a knack for knowing who is trustworthy. But I knew your father when he was just a touch older than you and from what I see they are already quite proud of you... and it is a mark of trust that they leave you in Bart's care."

"That's because Bart is my friend. He'd never let anything happen to me." Conner says innocently.

"That I believe, young man. Quite unquestionably."

Bart manages to control himself and not grin idiotically at the compliment he just got, but that compliment meant that NOTHING would ever harm the boy in his presence.

"Now, if we're done with our awkward introductions lets go see what these lads have in their kitchen." And Alfred makes himself at home and puts on a kettle for tea and proceeds to pull out a few spices from a valise he brought as he takes stock of the kitchen.

XXXXXXXXXX

An hour later Tim returns heavily laden with shopping bags from the grocery store to be surprised by Alfred already elbows deep in his kitchen making appetizers and treats for the guests that he's expecting. Tim finds a couple platters already full with canapes and butter cookies and wonders how many are coming to their little party, until he remembers his manners.

"Alfred! So good to see you. I'm sorry we hadn't invited you here yet." Tim tells the gentleman as he hugs the older man.

"Its quite alright Master Timothy. I believe you've had a lot on your your mind of late. But it is a lovely view you have here. You show magnificent taste."

"Thank you sir. But its been mostly Kon's decorating, believe it or not."

"Really?" Alfred answers in surprise as Junior runs into the kitchen and barrels into Tim's arms with a laugh. The young vigilante wraps his arms around his son and absorbes himself in the shared love between him and his son and even the usually straight-faced Alfred softens at the sight. Bart has had a time keeping up with Con's exuberance and is delighted by it and the room brightens even further when Kon and Jamie return with pool toys and Calvin. Both boys immediately brightened at seeing each other and Calvin dropped his backpack in the entry and ran to Con and the kids laughed into their hugs. Jamie rescued the bag and took it to Con's room and returned for a kiss from his lover as Kon was getting one from his husband.

The kids were ushered off to Con's room with cookies and soda to play video games while Alfred and Tim cooked and prepared for their party. Jamie, Kon and Bart made sure their rooftop deck above the city of Metropolis was ready and Wolf seemed comfortable and put out a stack of towels and tossed the pool toys into the water. It certainly wasn't everyone that had a rooftop pool 65 stories above the streets but it really didn't make Tim and Kon any different from anyone else but it was nice to have and they were going to share it with their friends.

Tim had just set a pan of muffins on the counter to cool when the doorbell rang. It was the bell from the "normal" elevator entrance, not the hidden one from the parking garage. Tim walks over to the front door and checks the security monitor to the side and shrieks: "Oh my god!..." and opens the door and pulls the young man into a tight hug.

The strikingly handsome young guy returns the hug as eagerly and the two just look at each other for a moment. Bart suddenly thinks: "Uh oh... " until he realizes there has never been anyone before Kon and Tim certainly wouldn't cheat on him, much less bring him home to his son's birthday party. But his floppy brown hair and light brown eyes and playful features certainly are nice, but seem a bit familiar.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it to your wedding Tim. I'm so happy for you. I wanted to at least surprise you when I found out you and your husband had a son. Its really wonderful, after everything you went through back then. I miss Uncle Jack and Aunt Janet." The young man told his friend.

"Huh...?" Bart asks.

"I took the liberty of inviting your cousin sir. I do hope you find it a pleasant surprise." Alfred explains as he offers the guest a cup of tea.

Smiling expansively Tim says: "Con, come meet by cousin Bobby... Bobby Drake. We were best friends when I was little before I lost my parents and he went off to boarding school."

"Hi Bobby!" Con says happily as he shakes the older young man's hand.

"Well, I teach there now. I'm the youngest teacher they've had. I guess someone thought I would be good at it." Bobby said with a laugh.

"I'm glad you landed on your feet. I got your letter when your parents bailed on you when you came out and I hated it for you, I really did, but it was the same time my parents..."

"I know Tim. Its okay." And the two cousins held each other for a moment. It was about the time Tim's parents were killed and he only had room then for his own grief.

Jamie and Bart watched the two with affection and Bart delighted to finally meet someone from Tim's past. Jamie just kinda thought: "Cousins, huh...?" until Bart smacked him on the back of the head for being naughty.

"What? I didn't think nothing!"

"Then good thing the Martian isn't here." Bart says, then grins because he knows exactly what Jamie was thinking because he had thought it too.

Kon was introduced to him and the Kryptonian hero was suddenly floored at seeing long lost family members reconnect and the scope of what family was grew greater in his mind; and felt himself part of something greater in return. It wasn't the feeling of being a part of the Titans or working with the Justice League, but it was greater as it was being part of a larger family. But the family was growing... some by blood and some by bond.

XXXXXXXXXX

Guests had started to arrive, all preceeded by Bruce, who had arrived early with an enormous bouquet of flowers for the house and a big teddy bear for his grandson, which he gave the boy with a grimace. Little Con still didn't grasp the level of his strength. But it was something that Bruce Wayne never thought he would see... his own grandson... and he wasn't going to say anything negative about any hug from the boy.

More guests began to arrive and Dick and Wally were delighted at the occasion, but speedsters were the most loving people you could find and their lovers tended to follow suit. Not long after Barry Allen arrived and after a bit of good-natured pestering of Bruce he spent some time with his nephew and descendant from the future and everyone got to see three generations of speedsters make loving idiots of themselves. But though they could be irritating at times, just the sight of them brought a sense of open-hearted loving joy to the home, which was already full of love.

With a houseful of friends and family... Kon was forced to almost hang his head in shame, or laugh like an idiot. Tim just felt scandalized for a moment as little Conner strode proudly out in his Star Wars underwear in front of everyone and declared.

"I don't know what a 'shower' you're talking about is supposed to be, but lets get it going." and walked back into his bedroom and to his shower.

Wally managed to only spew a little of his soda on Dick, and Damian, who Bruce had talked into coming, even grinned at the absurdity. The boy still didn't understand a lot of the social meanings of things and had only reacted out of that ignorance. Kaldur had recovered quite well from their past misfortunes and had successfully convinced Garth to not retreat back to Atlantis. But once they got to know him better it became obvious that the slim blue-clad Atlantean was a lively young man and christened the pool by diving right in with a laugh and hardly a splash and called out: "Come on in! Its wonderful!" Little Con ran off to change and moments later sped back in his little blue suit and dove right in too, finally getting the spirit of the party. Calvin sat off to one side sipping a soda and watched his friend swim and enjoyed the party as Bart cranked up some lively music.

"Calvin... come on! Come swimming!" Little Conner called out to his friend.

"Its okay. You have fun Con." Calvin answered.

Junior heard the hidden sadness in his friend's voice and climbed out of the pool and asked him:

"Why don't you want to swim with me?"

"I didn't bring a swim suit. I didn't think of it." Calvin answered quietly.

"Its okay. I'll stay here with you then." And the feeling of loyalty and friendship was noted by other onlookers.

"You have a fine son, you know that?" Diana told Tim as she sees the exchange between the young friends. She had performed Tim and Kon's wedding rite and the Themyscaran princess was proud to see that love grow.

"Yes ma'am. We're already very proud. In fact... we were thinking of asking you a favor regarding him."

"Anything. Just ask." She answers as she lowers her wine glass.

"Tim and I were thinking you could teach him some philosophy. Greece is where democratic philosophy originates. Maybe you could teach him what it means." Kon explained, clarifying for his husband.

"I really would be honored, but I think you two carry that torch quite well. But I will speak to him as often as you like." Diana says proudly.

But as the older heroes were talking little Conner has an idea. Bart is a pretty small guy, he thinks, even if he is older and bigger now, and so he runs in through the french doors open wide to the expansive living room where his uncle is digging through Tim's music collection for some more acceptable music.

"Hey... Uncle Bart..." Conner asks quietly. "Do you have a swimsuit that Calvin can borrow? I only have this one that we got yesterday shopping. Calvin didn't think to bring one."

Bart thinks for a moment and remembers that when Tim and Kon moved into the new penthouse they had a couple boxes of his stuff from when he was younger and remembers that he did have his first one he wore in high school when he tried out for the swim team. His green official one from the swim team Jamie still had as a souvenier.

"Yeah... I might." and he speeds off to the storage room next to the laundry room and digs through the boxes and found his old but lightly used suit and runs back and hands it off to Conner to give Calvin.

"Hey Calvin!" Conner says with excitement, "Uncle Bart had one of his old suits he can loan you if you still want to swim with me." And he hands it to Calvin hopefully. He didn't want to be the only one besides the older guys enjoying the pool. Calvin was his only friend his age and he wanted to share the fun with him. But Calvin took the red and yellow little swimsuit and asked:

"You sure its okay?" And he looked around and saw Bart off to the side with Jamie and saw the small speedster give a thumbs-up. The young teenager ran off with a smile to Conner's room to change. He came back just a couple minutes later proudly sporting Bart's bathing suit and quickly dove right into the water... where he stayed for a few minutes. Jamie laughed to himself at the boy's nervousness. Calvin had a crush on Bart since the moment he rescued him and now he was wearing his bathing suit. He was probably a little embarassed, but fortunately Conner hadn't seen his embarrassment and couldn't tease him. But he got the experience of his life finding out that Garth was actually a really nice guy and he and Kaldur played with both the boys in the pool for much of the afternoon. Both Aqualads ended up teaching the boys how to swim, but they would never be the equal of the Atlanteans. Calvin was convinced he could now swim as fast as Bart. Tim and Kon had seen their friend swim in competition and knew better, but hope and belief is what made you better and they only encouraged him further.

The party ended well and the guests drifted off and a few stayed a little longer. Bobby Drake rescued the party when Alfred suggested they might soon run low on ice. But the teacher/hero used his meta-skills to simply produce more ice; but they didn't call them Metas over in upstate New York. But it begged the question that when he "came out" which was it regarding, his powers or his personal life? But would be in town for a few more days and wanted to spend some time with his cousin Tim and his husband and try to reconnect with a sense of family. Dick and Wally and Damian were the last to leave with Bruce as the last of the family left. But it was still early in the evening and like most boys in their early teens both Calvin and Conner had a lot of energy to spare and Kon proposed an idea.

"Hey guys... if you want to go get showered and dressed we'll go to a movie and get some pizza. What do you think of that?"

Conner squealed with excitement and grabbed Calvin by the hand and they ran off laughing, dripping water through the house dragging their water noodles with them. Tim was normally fussy about a clean house, but parties like this only happened once in a lifetime and they adored Calvin and loved their son and he could only laugh at their happiness and friendship.

Bart and Jamie helped Alfred tidy up the dishes and kitchen while Tim and Kon got ready to take the kids to the movie. There was some new dinosaur movie that Calvin desperately wanted to see and thought it likely that Conner would like it too. But after they had changed the kids were still not to be found. Kon walked down the hall to Conner's room and heard raucous laughter and smacking sounds. He opened the door to his son's room and found Calvin and Conner buck-naked with their bathing suits over their heads peeking through the leg-holes like they were masks and sword-fighting with the water-noodles like swords. Conner lost all composure and started to laugh while poor Calvin was suddenly red-faced and embarrassed and tripped and face-planted right on the bed he was running across.

Kon closed the door and went back to the living room where Alfred was serving coffee to the family. He sat down on the couch between Tim and Bruce and Tim saw Kon's grinning smile and asked:

"Are they getting ready?"

Kon couldn't keep a straight face and leaned over and whispered in Tim's ear and the young vigilante burst in laughter.

"I'm pretty sure they'll be out in a second. Just finishing up getting dressed." Kon tried to say after composing himself. Bruce had excellent hearing and caught the explanation and he actually broke out in laughter himself. Bruce Wayne realized that for the first time in three generations one of the Wayne-Drake-Kent kids was going to have a normal childhood... hopefully.

Word spread fast among the few remaining in the house, all of them family, and even Damian smiled at the incident. Maybe he could be happy at the friends enjoying a playful moment that he never had. Moments later the two little guys came barrelling out of Conner's room looking stylish as ever. They wore a combination of each other's clothes. Con thought Calvin's worn jeans looked perfectly rugged with his Converse sneakers; and Calvin wore Con's sleeveless hooded top over one of his t-shirts. They'd had known each other only for a couple of days and had become the best of friends, which made them all very happy. Conner was an entirely trusting and naturally happy little boy, but fortunately he had made a friend that was perfect for him. But he was also perfect for Calvin. The kid had a lot of older friends that he saw almost everyday at the Emporium, but until now didn't have any friends his age.

The little family went to the movie and then pizza, then got the kids settled with sodas and chips and trusted to their good nature and went to bed and let the boys have their sleep-over night without looking over their shoulders, while they stayed up in Conner's room and played video games. Tim often didn't sleep well at night, and he made his way through the pent-house that they themselves were still getting used to and peeked in on his son. The TV was still on but the boys were curled up in bed fast asleep. Tim tucked the covers up around them and kissed his son on the cheek and lightly patted Calvin on the shoulder and went back to bed.

The next morning, Bart and Jamie were up only slightly before Tim and Kon. Jamie fired up the coffee pot while Bart headed right for the cereal, only to find that the Coco Pebbles were already eaten up. He settled for a big bowl of Froot Loops and went to the living room. Jamie once again had to wonder if young Conner was making his boyfriend stupider as the small speedster settled to the floor with the boys and picked up a third controller to join them in their video game. But as Tim and Kon entered the room along with the aroma of fresh coffee... he realized it wasn't that he was getting stupider, he was allowing himself to enjoy the innocent and playful company. Kon smiled and got down on the floor and plugged in a controller hub and handed extra controllers to Tim and Jamie; and all six of them spent their morning saving the universe from alien invasions. At least this time they could play at it and not have to really do it.

XXXXXXXXXX

Little Conner and Kon drove Calvin home the following evening, dropping the boy off with a pool noodle as a memento of the visit and the assurance that Calvin was welcome at any time, as well as his dad. Keith had gotten a promotion at work and was now a foreman and was doing very well for his son and they shared a wonderful home together. Calvin's dad would always get up a little early to make his boy a proper breakfast and take the time in the evening to help him with his studies during the school year, which was just about to start. There wasn't a soul who saw him in action that wouldn't think he was anything less than the perfect father. Kon really wanted to be a lot like him in that regard.

Kon and Conner drove back home and Tim was just finishing up his computer work in creating a birth certificate and history for their son.

"Are you excited about starting school son?" Tim asked.

"Well... yeah. But didn't you already teach me everything I will learn there?"

"The book stuff, yes... but what about making friends and normal social interaction?"

"But dad, I already have a friend. I like Calvin. I don't need another friend."

"You can have more than one friend. You might have one 'best friend' but you can have more friends."

"You don't father." Conner tells his father plainly.

"Ohh... son. I do. I have really good friends, great friends." Tim tells his boy while Kon looks on. They're just discovering that having a son was more complicated than wanting one and answering questions like this was pretty difficult.

"Do you like them Like I like my friend Calvin?"

"Yes son, I do. Just because we don't have sleepovers doesn't mean I don't like them. But even sometimes we go to Grandpa's house when uncle Dick and uncle Damian are home and we spend evenings together. It's a lot like that."

"Good... I want you to be happy to" Conner says and hugs his father.

"Hey kiddo..." Kon says as he kneels down next to his husband and son and asks: "Do you still think you're like a car with the right paint and upholstery?"

The young clone of the two heroes looks at his daddy and his eyes start to well with tears and his bottom lip starts to quiver in sadness.

"I'm sorry daddy... I didn't mean... I mean... I didn't know yet..."

"I'm sorry son. I didn't mean to make you upset." Kon says as he pulls his boy into his arms. "But can't you see now how you are thinking for yourself and made your own friends and that we love you even more?"

"Yes daddy."

"Okay. That's what we need you to know. You are your own person and we adore you."

Tim momentarily thinks, 'Well, that's one way to handle that situation.' but damn if it didn't work.

"Well then, lets get you to bed and we'll have a big breakfast in the morning and you can start your first day of school, okay?"

"But dad... what grade am I starting?"

"I told you he was smart sweetie." Tim tells Kon proudly. "Well, you are very smart and only look a little younger than Calvin, so we're starting you as a freshman, ninth grade. Daddy thinks you will grow pretty fast the next couple months and it is the best way to keep your age and grade similar. Does that make sense to you?"

"Yeah... so you mean fake it at school?" Junior asks wisely.

Both Tim and Kon laugh in pride at the boy's intelligence.

"Yes son, sometimes you have to be deceptive."

"Like you and daddy do sometimes?" He asks with his bright green eyes wide in aspiration.

"We'll talk about that later. But its bedtime now." Tim tucks the covers around their son and they both give him a hug goodnight.

The next morning Kon fixes the guys in his life breakfast. For Tim it was a couple of poached eggs and Canadian bacon and little Con gobbled a couple of bowls of Coco Pebbles. They drove Junior to school together for his first day. Tim and Kon both got out of the car and fussed over little Conner's hair and clothes and they each gave him a hug as he set out for his first day at school... and then Tim remembered being a freshman and that they had fussed over him in front of everyone.

"I think we just marked him for bullies, honey." He says to Kon.

"Yeah, good luck to them. You know how strong he is when he forgets himself."

"I know. I just hope he doesn't forget."

Watching him set off into the building was one of the longest moments of their lives.

The next few weeks pass uneventfully. Fortunately Calvin went to the same school in Metropolis, which Tim and Kon actually didn't realize. The boys spent a lot of time together and their friendship became stronger than ever. Junior started spending a little time at the Emporium after school and helped Calvin with his homework and tried to get a little more socially acclimated. Calvin taught him a lot... like the one day at school when all the stalls were occupied in the boys' bathroom and he marched right into the girls' bathroom and stunk the place up. Junior just didn't know that it wasn't allowed. He knew now and Tim and Kon had to hear about it from the Principal, but it made Conner the hero of the freshman class and the bane of all the girls.

One afternoon the young friends made their usual stop at the Emporium and after a while Brett had to make a call to a phone number very few of the public had.

"Tim? Sorry to call you like this. You might want to come pick Junior up and maybe take him to that doctor you know... the one who ses Bart maybe. He's in some pain and Calvin's just fussing over him. I gave him some aspirin and I hope you don't mind about that, but its not helping." But the phone goes dead before Brett can finish the sentence.

Five minutes later both Tim and Kon barrel through the front door of the Emporium. Tim is in a business suit and Kon in a pair of rugged jeans so clearly they were both working. Kon runs to the back of the store faster than Tim can get there and Junior is lying on the couch feverish and moaning in pain with Calvin at his side.

"Kon? What's wrong? Can you take him to the doctor?" Calvin asked plaintively.

The young half-Kryptonian hero's emotions are in turmoil, which only feeds his alien powers and his eyes shift into another spectrum and he see's into his son... into his bones. He realizes the problem the moment Tim settles to his side and sees that his ankles sit a couple inches below his pants and his wrists extend below his shirt.

"Growing pains... not fun. But this is much worse." Tim says sadly.

"I have had those a couple times. Dad gave me some Advil and put me to bed and it was better the next morning." Calvin said to Tim.

"Yeah Calvin, but he's a little different. We thought he might grow a little faster."

"Daddy... it hurts." Conner said plaintively. "I want to go home."

Kon was so much stronger... strong enough to destroy Warworld. But Tim gently lifted their son off the couch and he felt his weight a little heavier than he remembered and looked at Kon and gave him a slight nod in understanding. He was indeed growing fast.

"Tim... Kon... is there anything I can do?" Calvin asked his older friends. He and little Con were best friends and he didn't like seeing him sick like he was. Calvin's father had just come in to pick him up as they were leaving and the man saw the two young benefactors of the neighborhood asked of the two:

"Oh shit!... Is he okay?" And he looked back to his truck where he kept his shotgun hidden. He had seen his share of tragedy and loved Calvin's friends for everything they had done for them; and seeing their son in distress worried him. He worried that something abnormal had happened. But then he saw the look of two fathers with a sick child and he certainly knew that feeling, but he also knew that if it was worse he would see something completely different in their eyes. He knew who they really were and that they had saved his son's life and that his son and their son were best friends. It would be a secret he could speak of in the Emporium, but otherwise he would take to his grave.

"Daddy... can I go and stay with him if they don't mind?" Calvin asked his father with worry-red eyes.

"Okay son, but maybe they want to take him home alone and make him better." Keith tells him, and then Tim gives him a look of understanding... the look that welcomes the company that might make little Conner more comfortable.

"Okay... let's run by the house and get your bag together and I'll take bring you there." And he looks up to Tim and Kon for approval and they smile back slightly in agreement. In those few moments they are already making their way out and into Tim's car and headed home. Keith drives his son home and in no time at all Calvin has dumped his books out of his backpack and stuffs it with some clothes and his tablet computer that Junior gave him for his birthday; and then his dad tears back across the city to the building where their penthouse is.

"I hope we're not imposing." Keith says to Kon as he answers the door.

"No sir, not at all. It really is just growing pains. It happens when the bones grow a little faster than the rest of the body. Just with Conner... its worse. Come on in."

Calvin dropped his bag and ran to Junior's room and found Tim rubbing some ointment on the boy's legs and shoulders. Kon had given him something to help him sleep and though he was aching terribly he was still drifting off to sleep. Fortunately he had a higher percentage of human DNA and the medicine would work, it just took more of it. Tim left him in Calvin's care for a moment to once again dig in Bart's older clothes to find something in his new size as he had seemed to outgrow his clothes in the last day. He returned with a stack of carefully folded things and Calvin politely turned his back while Tim changed Junior's clothes as he lay exhausted and unconscious under the influence of the sleeping pills. Calvin had seen him without clothes before, they had showered together and slept over with each other often enough, but it just seemed not right to see under the circumstances.

Tim came back with Calvin and they sat with Calvin's dad for a moment.

"Thanks Keith. You don't know how much we appreciate you and Calvin's concern." Tim tells him.

"Tim, its the least I can do. My son and I really care about you guys and your family. If you need anything..."

"I know, and thank you.." and Kon looks over to Calvin and to Keith "and if you don't mind staying I think Con would appreciate it. It might be tough for a father to admit that his son needs someone besides himself, you are his best friend and he might like to have you around."

"Yes sir... if that's okay Dad." Calvin asks.

"Of course son. Taking care of the people you care about is what good people do. Isn't that what they taught you?" Keith says to his son, referring to Tim and Kon.

"You taught me that dad... when you protected us with Mr. Irons." And Calvin looks at his father with abject pride and hugs him. Tim and Kon look on and hopes they can be as good at raising their son as Keith has been. They both take their turn in giving him a hug and Calvin grabs his backpack and heads to Conner's room to keep him company.

"You raised a fine son." Kon tells the man.

"And you saved him for me... we're even." He answers smiling.

"No... it all comes full circle." Tim explains. "We were fortunate that we were able to find Calvin and the others before something terrible happened when he was kidnapped, and more fortunate that it hasn't darkened his heart. Then he befriended us and you showed your worth in defending the Emporium, and now Calvin is our son's best friend. Love expands and continues. Its not finite. I think we all have been blessed by it."

"Your pretty smart kiddo. Who taught you all that philosophy?"

"My dad."

"Well, you have a good one then." Keith says smiling; and they have a cup of coffee and finally he makes his excuses to leave. He really does care for little Conner and is a bit slow to go, but he also knows that in Tim and Kon's home even his own boy is in the safest place in Metropolis, but he feels no jealousy. When this minor crisis passes his son will will be back home with him to their normal loving routine and finish his homework every evening while he cleans up from dinner and they will watch a little television together while Calvin falls asleep in his lap; and probably will be tucking in Tim and Kon's son on his next sleepover and he'll have the honor of their trust.

Tim and Kon silently enter their son's room. Tim can walk like a cat on a cloud and Kon drifted silently just above the floor so as not to wake their son. The lamp on the bedside table is still on. Calvin had changed into his pajamas and had his arms wrapped around his friend to give him comfort. Kon reached down and pulled the covers from under Calvin and over his thin frame so he wouldn't catch cold in his worry-induced sleep. The two dads stroked their son's hair and kissed him goodnight; and took a moment to give Calvin a little hug in his sleep; then turned off the light and settled back on the couch in exhaustion of their worry.

"So... Tim...?" Kon asks haltingly as they hold each other on the couch.

"Yeah honey?"

"Do you think those two... Junior and Calvin...?"

"No... I really doubt it. They're just both really comfortable with each other and affectionate. But first of all they are still too young...";

"And?" Kon asks.

"And... he's not a speedster. Calvin likes speedsters and he's 14 now and he'll start going from hero-worship to more. Bart better watch his back." Tim answers with a chuckle; and they both have a laugh at the thought.

XXXXXXXXXX

The next day Calvin padded across the condo to the kitchen and got a chocolate muffin and a glass of milk from the refrigerator and headed back to Junior's room, never noticing in his sleepy state that Kon sat in his easy chair with the TV on. He chuckled at himself that their littlest friend was comfortable enough in their home that he could sleepily walk across the house in his underwear and raid the fridge. But if Tim worried about him and Junior... he needn't worry. The little red lightning bolts on Calvin's yellow briefs spoke volumes about the boy's hero-worship. Little Conner had a sharp sense of humor when he got going. He probably gave the boy hell about it.

Kon let a couple minutes pass before he went into Junior's room. Little Conner was sitting up at least and he looked like he had aged a couple years in the last two days. A half-eaten muffin and an empty glass were on the table at his side and Calvin was trying to interest him in an anime video when he walked in. But Kon couldn't help noticing that the muffin and milk he had snagged were for Junior. Wow... his son was lucky to have such a wonderfully caring friend.

"How are you doing kiddo?" Kon asked as Calvin scooched over and make room for him to sit on the bedside.

"Better dad... but weird. I'm bigger, aren't I?"

"Yes, but remember we talked about this and that it might happen."

"I know. It just... it's just that..." Conner says haltingly.

"What is it son?"

"Its just that you and father are such good daddies that I want to be your little boy longer." He says with his bright green eyes misting up with tears. Calvin quietly ducks out and heads back to the kitchen again, not wanting to intrude on their moment.

"So son, how old do you think you are now?" Kon asks trying to hide his sadness.

"I don't know. I look about Calvin's age... but I'm smarter and know more stuff."

"Sure you do. You knew more than him last week too. But did you know as much about how to be a boy or how to deal with school or a lot of other things not in books?" Kon carefully asks.

"No dad, I didn't."

"There you go. And... you might be physically 14 or 15... which means we're still your dads for a long time. In fact, we'll always be your dads, but you've still got a long time to be our little boy if you'll let us."

Conner crawls out from under the covers and wraps his arms around Kon and lays his head on his chest. The steady, strong beat of the loving noble heart of his dad gives him all the comfort he needed and Kon's arms wrap around the boy's slender shoulders and he feels all tension in Junior relax as he accepts the love. Kon didn't want him to grow up too fast either.

"But... I guess we have to take you shopping again."

XXXXXXXXXX

The weekend passed uneventfully, but for another lengthy shopping excursion. Junior had grown dramatically in a couple days and had to wear some of Bart's high school clothes. Bart had great taste and sense of style, but Tim and Kon thought their son should have his own clothes; and Bart wasn't the least body-shy and having their son go to school in skintight low-cut jeans and lightweight hoodies rather bothered their sense of propriety. It certainly had looked good on Bart, too good, and it looked good on Junior as well... but they had to admit their own hypocrasy since they applied a different standard with their own son. But the idea of another kid at school eyeballing their son just didn't sit well with either of them.

Nonetheless, the shopping experience went quite well. Calvin was able to buy a couple of things for himself as well. Tim would have bought him anything he might want. But in addition to Calvin and his father grown much closer since the scouring of Suicide Slum, his father had grown more successful and was able to give his son money for shopping. It was a matter of pride for the boy that he didn't benefit from his wealthy friends, other than their friendship. But in the end he got away with some pretty nice clothes and a great day of shopping.

The weekend passed and already the shadow of the terrible pain of his accelerated growth was forgotten... for the moment; and Kon dropped Junior and Calvin off at school. Kon had taken a short leave of absence from CADMUS to help stabilize the new norm of having a son. As much as Tim would have liked to stay, he had a company to run and it was still working to rebuild its reputation after the Scarecrow scandal and the merger with Wayne Enterprises that kept getting pushed back because of that scandal and federal finance regulations. Also, Tim's sense of loyalty encompassed the many thousands of people that Drake Pharmaceuticals employed, and the millions more that their medicines and medical researched helped.

This gave Kon the chance to feel a bit domestic. He stopped off at the store for a few things for dinner on the way home and through some clothes in the laundry... realizing he'd have to figure out what was Bart's, or Junior's, or Calvin's. But for the moment he just filled the machine and poured himself a big glass of Zesti Cola, changed into his lounge pants and oversized novelty slipper-boots and watched a bit of television... until the phone rang.

Within moments the Kryptonian clone became concerned, then confused. Confusion isn't something that Conner was very fond of. He took a certain satisfaction that many people confused him for a simple farm-boy rather than the very intelligent and thoughtful young man he was. It led people to underestimate him and he knew it, and used it from time to time. He snatched his keys off the small table by the door and took the elevator to the garage and fired up his vintage truck and demonstrated the speed and strength of the enormous motors in the old vehicles.

As he strode purposefully into little Conner's school he completely overlooked (or ignored) the whirring and clicking sounds that emanated from his oversized novelty robot slipper boots. A few kids in the hallways chuckled at the comical shoes, and a few more looked at them enviously. But Kon was in no mood for comical, and his mood was worsening by the minute. Approaching the secretary's desk he's greeted in a perfunctory manner.

"May I see your hall pass?" The secretary asks in a monotone.

"Hall pass? I'm here to speak to the principal ma'am."

"You will need to return to your class and get a pass from your teacher." She responds. Kon is suddenly reminded that he has aged only very slightly since he was cloned, and probably looked the age of many students here. But years and experience had made of him a very mature young man, even if his face didn't show it... until you looked at his eyes. If the secretary has stepped out of her apathy long enough to even make eye contact, she might have acted different.

"I'm Conner Kent. Conner Kent-Drake is my son and a student and I am here to see the principal. He is expecting me."

At that strangely factual statement, the secretary finally looks up in confusion and decides she has little choice but to take him to the principal.

"Thank you for coming, Mr. Kent." The principal greets him with an offered hand, which Kon shook out of politeness, even though he already knew that this was going to be an unpleasant meeting the moment Junior leaped out of his chair he had been occupying by the wall and ran to his dad for a hug. " I didn't do anything wrong dad. I promise."

"I know son." He says and kisses his boy in the head and motions for him to sit back down.

"Mr. Kent... this school is concerned about the health of your son. He seems to have grown remarkably since his absence last week which, by the way, we have not seen a doctor's note for the absence."

"Yes, he has grown quite a bit. My son has certain unique medical issues and as I am his father I determine was medical treatment he will recieve."

"Its not just his sudden growth Mr. Kent." The school nurse standing next to the principal's desk declares. "His teachers have noted his tendency to correct them in almost any class or subject. We see this as disruptive. That taken in conjunction with his recent growth has raised certain questions."

"You say Junior corrects his teachers? Tell me, has he been impolite or has he been wrong when he has corrected these teachers?"

The prinipal clears his throat and grudgingly answers: "No, he is always very polite."

"You are still not answering the rest of my question... has he been incorrect?"

"No, but that is not the point." The nurse says in interruption.

"Then what is?"

"His growth coupled with his inability to accept his teachers educational standards and the fact that you, Mr. Kent, given your apparent age you cannot possibly be the father of what now appears to be a 15 or 16 year old boy leads us to some very startling conclusions. At present I am considering a call to Child Services to begin an inquiry."

"So..." Kon responds, "You don't understand the unique growth patterns of my son, you do not appreciate the fact that he is exceedinly intelligent, and you don't care for my appearance. Is there anything I am getting wrong?"

"You don't seem to understand, we are concerned for all of our children..."

"None of the students in this school are 'your children,'" Kon declares as his anger begins to rise, "They are the children of the many parents who live in this district. Your are charged with the responsibility of educating them properly, but do not arrogate to yourself the idea that they are yours to raise; and more personally speaking, my son is not one of your children."

"There is no need for hostility Mr. Kent. We are concerned that Conner may be unique in ways we do not comprehend."

"So, he does not conform to your plastic mold type of standard. He challenges your knowledge and you simply do not like it. Where am I wrong? I've met beaurocrats like you before, overly inflated with a feeling of control over the lives and fates of others. The last time it was a young man that had already experienced terrible things and who's mother was murdered. Fortunately for him he had some very close friends to help him through the incident. But while the police were still investigating the crime scene a Child Services social worker tries to take him away to a foster home where he knows no one after he had lost everything. Only the timely intervention of the police prevented that. Is this what a child's life should be? His life, home, care dictated by beaurocrats?"

"It is our job to look after the welfare of our children." The principal responds after Kon's tirade.

"No it is not, and I will correct you again... these students here are not your children and your responsibility does not extend beyond the walls of this school. Am I clear?"

"No, you are not. These children are our future and thus our concern."

"Yes..." Kon says as a sense of pride overtakes his anger. "They are the future, and in the case of my son, you should be glad for that. So, I am withdrawing my son from this school and I will make other educational arrangements." Then he looks over to little Conner and says: "Go empty your locker."

XXXXXXXXXX

Dinner that evening was quiet and sullen. Junior was depressed over feeling like a freak. He knew he was different and always had. But though he was educated in his maturation chamber during the cloning process and many of the heroic friends of Red Robin and Superboy had offered their tutelage and time, he retained the knowledge but did not retain memory of the in vitro education and the heroes who helped provide it. Also, he knew his dads were different in a way that he did not understand yet. The confused boy picked at his dinner with a thousand questions in his mind.

"Is there something wrong with me?" He asked his parents sadly.

Those words were like a hot dagger driving into the chest of both Tim and Kon and Tim jumped out of his chair and pulled his son into a deep embrace.

"No son... nothing wrong with you at all. You are everything write and daddy and I are both very proud of you." And Tim looked across the dinner table to Kon and saw the slight nod he gave him. Dinner was all but finished at that point and Kon fixed then all some coffee and Tim said:

"Come to the study son, and we can talk."

Tim set his cup on his desk and Kon stood by their son's side waiting for Tim to say something. But wordlessly Tim pressed a button under the edge of his desk and broad panels of the narrower wall slid back silently reveal Red Robin's small armoury. His uniform covered a clear mannequin with a broad range of weapons and equipment all around it. His staff was extended and sat across two clear pegs like an old knight would mount his sword over the mantle of his fireplace. Little Conner's jaw dropped in unasked questions. His suspicion that his family was different was confirmed, and in a big way.

Tim and Kon sat their son down and carefully, gently, and lovingly explained to the boy who and what they really were. But for the boy it was more like a vindication of his strangeness rather than a revelation. Time dragged on and they answered all his questions and finally all matters were out in the open in the small family.

Late that night when everyone else was asleep Conner got up and snuck into his father's study with his backpack in hand. He had a perfect visual recollection and he concentrated on remembering exactly where his father's hands were when the wall panels opened. He noticed a difference in texture of the undersurface of the desk's edge and pressed... and opened the armoury. For a few minutes he just stood and looked and contemplated. It was a daunting thing to find out your dad was a hero that so many respected and had saved the lives of many more, especially of your best friend. He had loved his parents very deeply from the moment he awoke, but now something more had happened... He didn't know what had compelled him to buy the little cape and mask from the toy store when they first took him shopping, but now he did. Maybe it was that genetic memory thing that some poeple mention. Who knows? Silent as a mouse, Junior opened his backpack and pulled out that cape and mask and hung it next to his father's uniform from two of the clear lucite pegs.


	4. Chapter 4

"I know it seems trivial, but something about this situation is unsettling." Batman explains to Red Robin as he paced back and forth in front of the holographic generator that displayed the three-dimensional image of his adopted father. But the young vigilante had come to learn a few things in his time as Batman's partner and leader of the Titans… if Batman said something was unsettling it was a huge understatement or nothing at all to be concerned with. Batman wasn't one to go for half measures. But then he relaxed when the cowled man said: "Maybe you might consider bringing little Con since he seems set on continuing the family business and this is a simple recon patrol. Perhaps it's time he got his feet wet."

Batman was right, Tim knew… it was a simple mission and would give them an excuse for a short vacation and a chance to see how Junior was coming along in his training. It was only a couple months ago that Kon had pulled their son out of school in Metropolis and consequently the boy was going to Gotham Academy where Tim had gone. But one of the many reasons for coming out of the cape closet to their son was the fact that they lived in Metropolis and sending him to school in Gotham city. Kon would drop him off at the junkyard in Suicide Slum near John Irons' workshop and he would take the Zeta Beam to Gotham and Alfred would take him to school. Sure, it was a slightly complicated arrangement, but it gave Batman a chance to train his grandson and Alfred simply adored (and slightly spoiled) the boy, especially since for once a young lad had come into the family out of joy and love, not out of a dark family tragedy. But each day after school he would train with Batman in the cave before taking the Zeta beam back home to Metropolis, yet Damian was usually there too and took upon himself a role in training the boy who he had appreciated even before he was "born." Though it did take some psychological adjustment to think of the boy as Red Robin and Superboy's son when Red was still in his last teen year himself and Kon didn't hardly age and still looked a little more than 16. But it was a constant concern that with his apparent skill with escrima sticks like his uncle Nightwing used, he might parlay that skill with blades like Damian used. Tim and Kon both knew that little Con had not tapped even the edge of his potential, maybe inheriting the best of both human and Kryptonian; but doing so with twin blades in his hands? They did not want to make him an easy mark for Red Hood to try to pull away.

It was a lot of adjustment for everyone, but a delightful one. Little Con was proof of the love between Tim and Kon, but also proof of something else… that though they fought by day and by night for the safety of Gotham and Metropolis, and sometimes the world, that there was more to their lives. There was also love and joy and laughter. Nonetheless, the next generation was insistent on continuing their quest and young Conner might be proof that generation after generation the streets were protected. Bart had told Tim the details about the incident with the purse-snatcher when they first took him shopping, and then he had found the boy's store-bought cape and mask hanging next to his own uniform behind the hidden panel of his study. His heart had swelled with pride and trepidation. Pride in their son's dedication, and trepidation that he would so easily face danger. But he did have the advantage of half of Superboy's Kryptonian DNA along with Red Robin's intellect, and though he was fast and strong he would be easily underestimated as a 15-year-old that looked a little skinny and young for his age. So… they had packed away his cape and mask and gave him his first uniform, something "Kon-daddy" had designed for him. The black single-piece uniform ended at short black free-running boots and was decorated with deep red lines accentuating his thin but well-defined physique. Rather than a more traditional domino mask, the collar of the uniform continued up to an almost cowl that covered his eyes, but let his spiked hair out over the top, which the lad was very proud of. Across his back he carried a pair of escrima sticks, like Uncle Dick's, and he was quite proud of himself and his new clothes. He had declared to Kon that he wanted to be called "Sunbird" since he was a son of a "bird" (meaning Robin) and was also the son of a hero powered by the sun… which seemed to feed him some power as well. Tim and Kon were so proud that their own chests were about to rip through their uniforms. Their smiles and pride made them almost forget that they were on his first mission.

These and many more thoughts of the past few months passed through Tim's head as the Team filed into the Martian bioship that was still on loan from M'Gann in her extended absence. Nightwing and Kid Flash and Impulse and Blue Beetle were all on board. It really was just a reconnaissance of a worrisome archeological site that seemed to drive too many researchers away and the couples were all looking for an excuse to have a long weekend in England on the Justice League's paycheck. Something about the nature of the mission had bothered Tim in a way that he couldn't quite put a finger on and so he had asked Brian to come along. The Concrete Angel had an affinity for stone that no normal human could match and given the archaic nature of their reconnaissance it seemed prudent to ask him along. Kon smiled at his son as he checked his son's harness. The boy was practically vibrating with excitement like Bart did at that age. Bart was something of a big brother to him and they grinned at each other infectiously and were eager to get started.

Kon entered… or thought really… the coordinates of their destination in North England to the bioship. The ship rose high into the atmosphere from Mount Justice and speed northeast across the Atlantic. They were eight young heroes, far more than needed, but the thought of spending the weekend in London in a fine hotel and visiting the sights excited them all. Little Con, most of all, was delighted. He was going to see things that he had only known from the internet and his daddies' stories. The ship finally settled on a green meadow just 50 meters from the archaeological site. They had left in late morning, but the seven-hour time difference and the hour flight meant that the sun was setting as they came upon the abandoned camp. Sunbird started to bolt from the ship when Impulse managed to snag him and keep him from running into the unknown. Impulse had learned over time to be a little less… impulsive.

The camp was small, of course. They were in England and not some far-flung forgotten spot on a map that had been lost for too long. The archeological camp was made up of more campers than tents, and those tents were fair-sized wall-tents that housed equipment. An evening breeze picked up and tent flaps waved and a camper door slammed closed… all unheard except by the team. Robin immediately became concerned. Archaeological sites were generally rich for looters and in more lawless regions were dangerous places. But this was England and hardly lawless and was a nation that respected its history. The abandoned camp raised the hackles on Robin and Nightwing's necks.

Robin took in the scene and said: "Dick… go left and see what you can find in those campers. Beetle fly up and give us an overhead view… especially around that grove of trees north of us. Kid and Imp, see if you can figure out what they were working on. You are the science nerds, see if you can find something. Brian… just… I don't know… Stone seems to remember and speak to you, see if it tells you anything. This is just too weird for a lucrative site to be abandoned. Son…" he says to little Sunbird "you stay near me or Superboy. No argument on it."

"Yes father." Sunbird said feeling a little deflated and loped off to Superboy's side.

"Batman was right. There is something unusual here. Digs like this have guards at night. Too many old Saxon gold hoards have been found in farmland that policeman are always at such digs, that and their respect for history."

"Robin…" Brian called out softly, almost a low hiss as he spoke through his teeth. As the Teen Wonder strode up to him, the Concrete Angel summoned the small stone and gravel at his feet and encased himself in armour. Brian was a confident one, sometimes overconfident in cover of his own personal fears, but summoning armour was something he only did when he felt danger upon him.

"Nightwing… Beetle… KF… everyone to my location and report in." Robin called into his communicator.

"All the campers and tents are empty. No one is here. Everything looks like it was just walked away from." Nightwing told his adoptive brother.

"There's pottery bits and some very old armour pieces that the archeologists were examining, but the electrically powered equipment, like the microscopes and computers were still running. But the lights were night turn off… they've been shattered." Kid Flash answered as soon as he appeared in a gust of wind.

"Blue?" Robin asked as the symbiotic young hero landed lightly to Impulse's side.

"I saw nothing, either here or in the trees. But there is a mound to our east and I could swear I saw some movement, but I think it was more the bug that saw it…." The young dusky hero wanted to be more sure, but he couldn't and his voice drifted off as he saw Brian. The now stone encased Concrete Angel had stood silent but the same location drew his eye… but it wasn't his eye that saw it… it was the stone. Right where Beetle thought he saw movement Angel now walked forward to a small hill, but a hill that had been heavily excavated on the side facing them. Timber pilings placed by the excavators held back the earth of the passage into the hillside that was worked in stone under the ancient turf. Tim knew from his studies that this was probably a barrow of the ancient Britannic people, but something about it compelled Brian.

"Everyone, stay close…" Superboy said calmly as they followed Brian to the mound while keeping a hand on Sunbird. They had all faced danger before, but there was a "creepy" factor that unnerved everyone. Tim led the Team at Angel's side as his stone calling led him into the mound. Nightwing and Kid Flash watched their backs for an ambush. In the final gleams of the failing light, Tim saw electrical cords running into the mound entrance, powering lights that he was certain were as shattered as those at the camp had been. The yawning opening didn't dwindle around them so much as seem to swallow them as they stepped inward. The walls were single slabs of stones laid one after the other with a roof of flat stone laid across them. It was a place ancient beyond reckoning. He turned to see that his son was near and safe and was proud to see his boy holding his head proud and yet his friends keeping near to protect him.

As the passage narrowed they could only walk two abreast and Angel's armor narrowed with it as he came to know the stone better, but so too did it disturb him.

"Guys… its wrong here. There's all these footprints here but the echo of the stones is far older."

Nightwing had noted the recent footprints and was sure that Robin did, but Angel's observation gave it a different dimension. Superboy felt sure of himself. He didn't like enclosed spaces one bit, it reminded him too much of his own creation and being in a cloning chamber. It was a reason that he and Robin made sure that there was as much positive outside influence as possible in Sunbird's cloning. But he knew that his strength could blast through the stone above and open the mound to the sky and their escape should they needed, except…

"Guys… the stone is starting to change here…" Angel says softly as his hand runs softly along the ancient hewn stone of the passage.

"Change how?" Robin asks as he notices Kon start to gasp for breath. The stalwart clone leans down to catch his breath and ease his nausea. Kon is never sick unless….

"Alright, we're turning back now… Nightwing… lead us back."

"I can't brother…" Nightwing responds from the back.

"What do you mean you can't?" Superboy asks haltingly as he edges he way back through the line of his friends… and feels an invisible wall as he hits it face first in his wish to get away from whatever is weakening him. But his only preternatural weakness is something none of them have any defense against, except maybe (and only maybe) Brian. Magic… He'd felt it before in their fights with Klarion, and there was little he could do to defend against it.

Nightwing takes Superboy by the elbow and helps him forward and he can hear from the head of the column the voice of his brother.

"I know you don't know what this is Brian. It's okay. None of us do. Kon is okay. Just find us a way forward and we'll be okay. We need to find fresh air and you can find it for us. Touch the stone… from stone to stone find us a way forward."

Robin often knew how to encourage others and sublimate his own fears. But in a single moment he had discovered they were under the influence of magic, Kon was weakened by it, and their young son was with them who they had to protect at all costs. He saw that Impulse had a solid hold on Sunbird's hand and Beetle was at his other side and that gave him comfort. He knew that any one of these guys would breath their last breath for the boy, but that was not the point of life… it was that they all emerge victorious together.

"Okay… this way." Brian said as he regained his bearings and inner strength. Tim could have sworn they had turned in a circle, but couldn't have with the way behind them blocked. But it was Superboy and Red Robin's son that caught it first:

"Daddy, what's that nasty smell?" he asked softly. Robin first wanted to shush him quiet, but he started to notice it… just as Brian found their way out.

"Stay close son." Superboy told his boy protectively, even though he felt his own strength weaker than it should have been. But it was a father's prerogative to protect his child. The smell of fresh blood met them just as Brian found them a path out, which happened to look ironically like the way in.

They all made their way back out into fresh clean air… only slightly tainted by the flinty, iron-tinged, scent of blood. The open air carried the scent away which was closer to them than they wished. Several fresh bodies, terribly savaged, were spaced around the exit of the barrow mound that Brian had found. Sunbird was one of the first to see it and his young eyes were too innocent to the sight. He wrapped his arms around his dad and Superboy drew in a breath of unuttered horror at the possibilities.

"Robin…" Nightwing he called out the quiescent night. "We're not alone. We need to find a place we can hold." Sibilant whispers and shuffling feet were heard just beyond the edge of sight around them… and a few words on the edge of recognition, but Nightwing didn't hear it again to nail it down. Any normal guy would have thought he imagined it, but he had learned long ago that sometimes reality was far worse than imagination.

Red Robin was ashamed for a moment. They had not been attacked and had not seen any foe, other than the barrier to their return. But they all felt the fear and the need to flee. So what had happened? At a distance a faint glow… the orange-red glow of fire caught the eyes of the young team of heroes, while the snuffling wet hound scent of seeking dogged them. Tim focused on the bright flare of light and reached out his hand and in his desperation was glad to feel the hand of his boy and ran toward the sound with his friends and family close by… and the sound of soldiers piling tinder on their watch-fires. The fires illumined a far wall and voices could be heard which might have given a couple of them either concern or a sense of peace.

"Clausos custodian!" A voice called from above.

He wracked his brain to understand why the words were familiar…

"Captura!"

Yes… that was it! Against all odds, that had to be it. The accent was harsher than he would have expected. It certainly wasn't the sound of lengthy medical terms or choral church music; and another voice called from the wall:

"Afferte ad me!" It yelled out less harsh voice and carried a voice of authority.

Red Robin set his mind to gathering facts within a few brief moments. First, there was a great stone wall that became clearer and clearer as they got closer and the watch fires were built up in their iron braziers. The wall seemed to be of an ancient design of stonework, but it hadn't seen the eons of age that such stone should be weathered by. Second, as unlikely as it seemed, he was hearing Latin, the old Latin of a civilization that had fallen long ago. Thirdly, once he thought about the geography of where they were, he realized the wall was south of the barrow, just as the archeological site they were investigating had been north of the foundations of another wall… No… Impossibly the facts pointed back to the effect of the magic they had passed through in the barrow. If it hadn't been for Superboy's weakness to magic, they might not have known of it or the inescapable conclusion he had no choice but to make.

"Guys, we aren't where we think we are. Something's happened when we passed through that barrow tunnel. Nightwing, did you pay much attention to Latin class when you went to Gotham Academy?"

"It's been a few years, but yeah. Are you thinking what I think you are?"

"Yes. I think you're going to get a refresher." Red Robin answered as calmly as he could. "Impulse I don't suppose any of those books you memorized was a Latin dictionary, was it?"

"Yeah, but how's that going to help?" The slim, younger speedster asked.

"You have perfect recall and might catch something I miss." The vigilante responded.

"Jefe…" Blue Beetle interjects "My scarab does translation for me. It's just instinctual with it."

"Good. Half of us are going to be able to talk to them. The odds are starting to look a little better."

"Odds of what, father?" Sunbird asked as Red Robin looked away for a moment to divert the question. The entire mission had gone to hell and he and Superboy's primary concern was the safety of their son, and the rest of their Team, most of whom were family.

Nightwing had benefitted from as good an education as Robin had and he was starting to understand where Robin was going with his questions about language and thought 'This is going to be interesting, or its going to suck.'

No sooner had the black and blue clad protector of Bludhaven formed that thought than a small oak and iron postern gate opened on the wall farther to their right, away from the glare of the watch fires. Several armored men came through in a well-drilled fashion and surrounded the team of young heroes while archers watched them from above. Moment by moment Tim was almost in eager anticipation of the next revelation of their predicament. He had been such a history-nerd that it eased a sense of foreboding. But each moment brought a new worry of where they were… or when.

The well drilled soldiers swiftly surrounded the team with their broad red shields with the only path out leading to the gate from which the soldiers had come. The soldiers did not threaten them with the swords they carried hanging from baldrics at the right hand, but they were covered from above by several archers. The young heroes had worked together so long that they almost communicated without words but rather by a look and a gesture. They allowed themselves to be herded inward. There was little question that they could escape whatever situation presented itself, but there were far too many unanswered questions and the only answers were on the other side of that wall.

"Afferte ad me." That voice called once again as they were ushered through the portal. Red Robin edged himself forward and into the brighter light of watch fires and braziers to be able to meet the source of the voice and show that he would speak for the team, especially since he felt he had the language skills to pull it off.

"Salvete miles." Robin called out to the shadows around him trying to duplicate the accents harsher accents he had heard from the wall above. It was not the same type of Latin most heard in the modern world. It was far older and had not been commonly heard in over 1500 years and so he kept his words short and simple until he learned to understand it better.

"Ego non miles, sed ego flamen. Flamen de Mars." The voice responded slowly and clearly as its source stepped into the fire light; almost like he responded to Red's halting skills and answered as simply. Robin mentally sorted through the words translating them as he took in the young man who approached. He was short with a slim build, but clearly very fit. His white short tunic trimmed in red did nothing to hide a trim waist and lean, well-defined arms. He had dark hair and slightly tanned skin and intense eyes that asked more questions than his own voice had; and had a very handsome face that looked more like it belonged on ancient marble than it did on guys they knew back home.

"He said he's not a soldier. He's a priest of Mars." Blue Beetle said to Robin from behind, just as Robin himself had come to the same conclusion in his own translation.

"Yeah, I got that. Thanks… but, that probably means he's more dangerous and a better fighter." Robin responded deadpan. "Remember guys… if they are Romans, they conquered the western world almost two millennia ago. They know how to fight." He was dearly trying to figure out how their circumstances should have been comical. His mind never stopped working and seeing the well-fortified wall, the well-drilled troops in their banded armor, the very old dialect of Latin, and the very location where they seemed to be he could only conclude that the passage in the barrow had led them through a portal in time. In retrospect, he felt they should have spotted it the moment Superboy felt the slightest weakness. He should have been their canary in a coal mine, had they considered it. But now he could not avoid facing the fact that "when" they were was more critical than "where" they were.

The young priest looked over the team with a critical eye. The soldiers kept them surrounded, but at an arm's length that would give them the moment needed to draw their own weapons should they need them. It was to their credit that they did not stare astonished at what had to be thought strange clothing and strange voices of the young heroes. He looked them over carefully, his enigmatic eyes boring into them as he strode past each one. His eyes settled on young Sunbird and something about the boy's excitement of adventure, in spite of the uncertainties, seemed to strike a chord and the Roman priest's hand reached out to playfully pat his cheek. His hand only got halfway before a steel staff blocked his way, accompanied by a red-eyed gleam from another that told him that the boy would be touched over about eight bodies… and many more of them than they could possibly comprehend.. Several of the soldiers reached for swords and the priest's hand snapped up halting their natural protective reaction. Red Robin noted that clearly this young man had somehow earned the respect of such strong and skilled warriors. The soldiers settled back and the priest noticed the weapons that had appeared in Nightwing and Red Robin's hands and the red fury in Superboy's eyes. He could not yet see among the group the tiny crackles of Speedforce lightning in the eyes of Impulse and Kid Flash or the long spikes that extended from Blue Beetle's arms, and Angel's eyes narrow in concentration as his hand reached out to the great stone wall behind them.

"Conquiesco!" The priest said calmly trying to defuse the strange situation. Clearly he saw their captives were protecting the boy and he respected this immensely. He stepped up to Robin and chose his words carefully and slowly so that he could be understood.

"You do understand my words." He said. Robin's keen mind translated it almost as fast as Beetle was able to whisper the same behind him.

"Yes, but not perfectly." He responded in Latin.

"It will be enough. You are unknown to us and found at our border. Only our enemies are beyond that wall."

"We are not your enemies." Robin answered slowly while Superboy and Nightwing watched and took in every detail.

"We are missing three men who volunteered to scout northward. You came to the wall when they should have. Trust is hard right now"

As the conversation continued Superboy almost missed that Blue Beetle's constant translation had faded away and he was hearing the young man clearly. He knew he had to be speaking Latin, a language he did not understand, but somehow he could comprehend it. Impulse felt it as well when he began to understand the words, not as distinct language but as the thought clear in his mind and when he did focus on it, it was though he was hearing the Interlak that was spoken in the future that he had come from.

"Robin…" Superboy interjected when he detected the change. "I noticed it too." Robin responded.

The young vigilante looked the warrior-priest dead in the eye and said: "We have no knowledge of those men. We came out of a buried tunnel to the north and heard movement and smelled blood, though the smell changed with the wind… we fled here to the light of your fires."

"You will not be harmed, but until we know where our men are, or are certain of you, you will have to be detained."

"Who were these men?" Robin asked calculatingly.

"They were Romans, like ourselves. All else out there is… an enemy." The priest explained, but the way he said "enemy" carried a tone of fear.

"Nightwing… are you ready?"

"Always brother."

"Priest… I believe you are an honorable man." Tim said to placate him. "But if you harm our friends nothing will save your men… worse if my son…"

"I have already said that no harm… your son?" He responded in affront, then confusion.

Red Robin looked over to his husband and their eyes spoke volumes and he reached down and briefly gave his son's hand a squeeze in farewell. Nightwing swiftly turned to Kid Flash and gave him a swift kiss, and luckily Wally didn't understand the language of the soldiers. The comment was flattering, but very bold. The team instinctively stepped slightly back and the adoptive brothers, Red Robin and Nightwing, fired their ascension lines to the wall's top and were over before even the archers above could react. Darkness and shadows were their home and they found comfort in it, or would have if they each had not left their loved ones behind. More so that Red Robin had also left his untested son and so Nightwing his untested nephew. Say what you will about the unique nature of their family and friends, they were all fiercely loyal in their love for one another.

The two young street ninjas darted from shadow to shadow on the north side of the wall avoiding the pools of light cast by the watch fires. It was a new environment for them. The walls, brick and concrete, alleys of great cities were a place that they could turn fear of darkness away from their enemies and use it against them, this was in open wood and dark forest. Though they worried somewhat for those left behind, they were extraordinarily capable and it gave them the freedom to work in ways the others could not. Once away from the light and at the tree line, Red Robin pulled a vial from his belt and put a drop in each eye and handed it over to Nightwing who unquestioningly put a couple drops into his own eyes. The chlorin E6 went to work swiftly, greatly enhancing their night vision. The two heroes retraced their path to the barrow, having remembered the smell of blood and the savaged bodies and the whispers. But these two were more accustomed to turning the fear of darkness to their own advantage.

Nightwing's foot settled into a soft patch of earth that had a slight stickiness and spotted the pool of blood under his booted foot. He reached over to his left bracer and booted up his own wrist-mounted computer and pulled a test strip from his belt. He would be able to analyze the blood to give an approximate time of death and given time, genotype the sample's DNA. Roman blood would be distinct from old Britannic blood… or maybe modern British blood of the missing archeologists. A couple minutes passed as the computer did its work, minutes that passed far too long for the two young men, then the results displayed themselves on the holographic display. It was a J2 haplogroup, which the computer confirmed to be a Roman trait. The two looked at each other and steeled themselves for what they might find further on. Not only did they want to find the missing Roman patrol for their own safety, it would be the best way to prove their intentions to the priest at the wall and the soldiers who he led, and get some answers to their predicament.

Nightwing froze as he heard the barest whisper. He might not have noticed it, but for the shift of the wind. He had thought he heard that accent earlier… but now it was confirmed.

" _Hadha hu aikhtilat."_

Red Robin might have more intensity and dedication in combat and was an inspirational leader, but Nightwing had certain experiences from his own days as Batman's partner… experiences he wish he could forget. It was not a language he understood, but he recognized its style and knew it should not have been heard here anymore than the modern English they spoke with one another. The miniature computer on his gauntlet recorded the voice for future analysis. The possibilities sent a chill down his spine. Robin felt his brother's tension and with silent hand signals Nightwing told him "Quick and silent. Danger is increased." Nightwing's escrima sticks were firm in his grip and his thumbs pressed a contact on his weapons and ten inch blades extended from the ends of each one. Robin saw the blades and new that Nightwing would never have deployed them except under the direst need. Something had really gotten under his skin. He took it in fully and ran a finger up a few inches from the grip of his staff for a subtle release, just to know it was there and ready.

Some distance to the south on the other side of the great wall the remainder of the Team stood by waiting for the return of the two Gotham vigilantes. The Romans and the priest who seemed to lead them kept them under increased guard, but had not attempted to threaten them, nor were they cruel. It didn't seem to be fear of the unknown that kept the men at bay. The Romans, if that is what they were, valued science and did not fear the unknown, but also the young priest spoke to his men and also looked on the Team with a gaze that almost appeared brotherly. The priest had water a basins brought out so the guys could drink and wash the dirt from their escape from the barrow from their hands. The sudden disappearance of Robin and Nightwing had bothered the priest less than they expected, but he seemed to be waiting on their return while observing the rest of the boys; and the questions seemed to mount in his own mind as they did with the others. The speedsters, Impulse and Kid Flash, were both starting to get impatient with the situation and Concrete Angel found himself staring at the stone that was so much older (yet newer) than he had envisioned possible in the heart of Metropolis. Superboy never strayed more than a single step from Sunbird's side and every so often saw the rather large sub-commander of the soldiers, a 'centurion' he thought they were called, eyeball him with something like distrust. He stood out from the others by the tall red horsehair crest that ran across his helmet from his brow to the back of his neck, and the grapevine rod he carried. But even the stern grizzled centurion's gaze softened when he looked at Sunbird, just as the priest's had. Superboy noticed the reaction and thought it was something he would discuss with Robin. Maybe it was one of the boy's latent meta-human abilities. Yes, he was a very handsome lad and the Romans historically appreciated youthful beauty, but to put a hardened warrior at ease was something else entirely.

Kon was still contemplating that, and the impending failure of the speedters' patience, when his extraordinary hearing caught the return of his husband and brother-in-law. There was a single solid metallic bang on the postern gate, but it somehow carried an unbelievable intensity. All the heroes tensed in anticipation of their friends' return. Superboy and Sunbird eagerly wanted Robin back, just as Kid Flash wanted Nightwing back. But Concrete Angel also was eager since Nightwing had saved his lover's life and that had made him a lifelong friend.

"Nunc aperire!" Red Robin called and two legionaries opened pulled the iron bolt aside and hauled the oaken door open, which was good for them. Had they waited much longer Superboy would have open the door himself, along with a 20-meter section of the wall. Nightwing was taller and physically stronger and so had taken the burden on himself, but it was a heavy one and his strength was starting to weaken. The last few yards he had dragged the body as fast as he could while Robin protected his back. The door opened behind him and to buy the last few precious moments Red Robin expertly threw one of his irreplaceable birdarangs high in a nearby tree. It exploded in a bright flash, revealing several dark forms converging on the two heroes and their heavy burden. The explosive flash stunned them and Robin turned and grabbed the ankles of the body Nightwing was pulling through and helped him the rest of the way. For the brief moment the area was lit the few archers on the wall above loosed several arrows at the pursuing forms. The archers, like all the Roman soldiers, were well-trained and highly motivated and none of the arrows missed their mark. But rather than the shrieks and cries of the fallen that a soldier might have known and even appreciated for their human tragedy, they only heard strange animalistic utterances.

No sooner had they set the body down, the unconscious Roman from the missing patrol, Superboy ran over and dropped to his side to examine him. He had studied medicine and genetics and had often acted as the unofficial medic for the Team. Often in the past he'd had M'Gann's assistance, but he had learned to distrust her and she had been away from the Team for some time. His x-ray vision bore into the young soldier. He had a few superficial wounds, but no internal injuries or broken bones. But his breathing was shallow and it appeared that his throat had started to constrict like some types of allergic reactions.

"I think he's been poisoned. I don't have any other explanation." He said while Jamie translated… unnecessarily.

The young priest looked on with concern and barked out an order to the troops. Two, who must have been friends of the soldier from their looks of concern, dropped their shields to the ground face-up, overlapped them lengthwise, then slid the spear shafts through arm bindings and formed a stretcher of their shields within just a few seconds. They gently laid their friend on it and carried him swiftly off to be tended to.

"These are not our enemies." The priest said aloud around him then looked over to the large grizzled veteran that Kon had been trading stares with. "Centurion, please tell your men to stand down." With a gesture and a few words, the well-trained soldiers returned to other duties, but several who were friends of the rescued soldier struck their chest with their right fist in salute as they walked past Robin and Nightwing.

The exertions had left Tim and Dick slightly short of breath. Their muscles ached from the abuse and even the very athletic Tim felt the burn of his muscles overly infused with the lactic acid of exertion, and the young Roman asked in sincerity: "Are you injured? How can I help you?"

"Some water please." Nightwing asked short-breathed. Kid Flash snatched up the big water flask that had been brought to them earlier, but the Roman held out his hand for it and said: "Please, let me correct my distrust." Wally swallowed his pride and handed it over and the priest carried it the few steps to the two vigilantes and they traded it back and forth drinking deeply and quenched their thirst. Kid Flash fussed over Nightwing, much to his chagrin, and Superboy wrapped his strong arms around Robin's shoulder while he held his son's hand for a moment.

"I see that the bonds you share are quite strong." The Roman said kindly.

"Very." Robin said looking deep and serious into his still undefinable eyes.

"Come with me, please. My general will want to know our visitors. I am Marcus, a priest of Mars as I have already told you. I withheld my name as names have power. I hope you understand this."

"I understand it all too well." Red Robin responded.

"I assist the general as best I can and see to the needs of the legion. But we will see what we can do to satisfy hospitality." He held out his hand in friendship which Robin accepted. They gripped each other's wrists in the ancient fashion, which was not so ancient at the moment, and the young lean priest easily pulled Robin to his feet.

XXXXXXXXXX

Robin briefly wondered at the youth's strength as it added another question to his long list of them. But he was starting to get a clearer picture of who this guy might be. The Team was led through the torch lit darkness to the Praetorium, the main hall of the fortress connected to the wall. As they entered, the Team was fascinated in seeing what movies tried to recreate and some few ruins recalled. But this was not so ancient or guessed at. It was here and now. Robin had to put the history nerd part of himself on hold and face the greater concerns. Once inside, the hall was brightly lit. The floor looked like a single slab of granite carefully quarried and oil lamps smokelessly drove away any shadows while white plaster walls reflected a white brilliance throughout the broad chamber. Several soldiers stood sentry on both sides of the Praetorium. At the far end at a simple but well-made desk sat an older distinguished gentleman, perhaps in his mid-forties. Several maps and scribe's tablets were set before him and a silver chalice was near to his left. Posted behind him were two soldiers whose helmet crests and cloaks were not the usual Roman red, but a fiercely deep blue… Praetorian Guards. They were the finest soldiers that Rome could field, and consequently they were few… and very proud. Standing to the side of the desk awaiting his general's orders was the same centurion that they had met at the wall.

The general looks up from his work and nods in recognition to Marcus, then looks over each of the Team of heroes.

"My priest here tells me you rescued the soldier from the patrol. May Mars grant that his courage is rewarded with a speedy recovery. You have my thanks."

As the general picked up his silver cup and offered it to Robin and Nightwing, Robin looked sideways to Marcus. Marcus motioned over that he should accept the cup and take a drink, but that was not Robin's first concern. He had been about to believe that their mutual understanding of Latin was a combined result of his own knowledge and Blue Beetle's symbiotic scarab. But now that he was being spoken to directly by a third party, he knew otherwise, and saw the odd undefinable gleam in Marcus' eyes again. Robin accepted the cup from the general and took the barest sip and steeled himself for what he thought would be the strong wine that a Roman soldier preferred… he was right, it was very potent. He handed the cup to Nightwing who also took a small sip and then returned it to the general, who drained the remainder. He turned to an aid and said:

"Give this to the soldier and tell him that his rescuers have drunk to him from this cup. The gift might speed his recovery."

Robin began to assess what manner of man held such concern for his men. A general like that could command a very loyal army.

"I am Flavius Vegetius Silva, general of the XXIII Legion. You have met the priest Marcus, whose worth is not to be measured by his size; and the centurion, who we call Ursa (the Bear) whose worth is matched by his size. Again, gratitude for the rescue of the soldier, but I wonder at the skill of a pack of children. Maybe even a pack of wolf-cubs, but cubs nonetheless." The general said scathingly, but calculatingly.

Robin thought he had already proven their worth and was irritated at his friends being called children, or even cubs. It had been a trying night and the fact that they had been thrown back in time… far in time… was setting in and once the sense of crisis had bled off, worry had set in. His anger built up and he spoke quietly to the Team:

"Guys… show him the pack of cubs." He said with a slight grim growl to his voice.

Thin red and orange lightning erupted around the two speedsters as they bolted into motion. For the briefest moment, the Speedforce erupted throughout the room dazzling the eyes of the soldiers and the general. The "flashes" of lightning were punctuated by a great shattering peal of thunder… and it suddenly ceased. Robin's outstretched hands held the swords of the six guards ranked to the sides of the hall, as well as the two Praetorian Guards behind the general. Superboy held the bear-like centurion easily by one hand in the air, gripping the front of his armor like it was a cloth shirt. Blue Beetle was fully encased in the grimmest version of himself, broad and armed in insectoid spikes. The clap of thunder was no less than Concrete Angel who had dropped to one knee and his hands were on each half of the great granite floor, that he had broken cleanly in half.

The entire episode was a span of a few seconds… and as eyes recovered from the lightning flashes and concussion of thunder, Robin saw that the general's deep grey eyes had never left him.

"Pack of wolf cubs indeed." He said softly in satisfaction.

Robin laid the gathered swords on the general's desk and picked up the two Praetorian's blades and formally returned them. He did not want for a moment to give the impression that the Team did not respect these people, any of them. Superboy set the centurion down and picked up his grape vine rod for him while Angel closed his eyes in brief concentration and perfectly repaired the Praetorium floor.

"Guards…" the general called out as he surveyed the room "word of this is not to leave this room. Bring chairs and food for our guests, and anything else they might require."

"Thank you, sir." Robin responded tiredly.

"So, you aren't children. You have my apology for that and I can see that you are tired so I will be brief. But what am I to think of you? Hercules man-handles my best centurion, while the sons of Mercury disarm my guards? A demon of Hades in the guise of what looks like a Spaniard boy fills the air while the purple-clad youth shatters the work of some of our best engineers. All seemingly led by the two wolf cubs, like Romulus and Remus; and the small handsome lad whose fine looks are probably greater than I have ever seen; and given the rest of you likely hides the fierceness of a badger."

Marcus steps over to the general and whispers in his ear and steps away while the older man contemplates the news he was given.

"So, I give an order too late. Word of you is already spreading. Secrets are hard to keep… aren't they Marcus?" he asks as he looks over to the younger Roman.

"Yes General." Marcus answers in a low voice, but the general and the priest share a slight smile.

Aides bring in the ordered chairs and several soldiers carry in a couple long tables and set broad platters of meat, cheese, and bread. Though it had been a long day and half of a night full of uncertainty, they didn't yet touch the food.

"By the gods must I always apologize for what Rome has become?" the General roared in righteous frustration rather than insult. He stands up so fast that he knocks over his own chair and approaches the friends and pulls a bit of meat off the roast set in front of them and pops it into his mouth, tears a piece of bread from a loaf and grabs a random cup and pours cool cider into it and drinks.

"I am an honorable man. You will not drink wine to find poison, or embrace a brother to find a dagger. Rome is more here than it has been down there for a long time… I hoped to make a Republic again." The general ended softly.

Tim was baffled by the comment and looked to Marcus for explanation, but got the barest shake of his head. It was not a question to ask now. Nonetheless, they now knew they could trust the General and the priest and so they ate heartily. After some time, weariness came upon them and little Conner was starting to drift off.

"Marcus, would you show our friends to proper lodging, then get some rest yourself. You've earned it immeasurably." The general asked the handsome young priest, then looks over to the weary group and tells them: "I know you have questions and I have many of my own, but it can wait for the morning which will come too soon. I think you are lost and uncertain so I will say this. Put aside your concerns of us. You have my protection and that of this legion. You can trust this and you have my oath on it. You need the rest, as do we all."

The guys all looked at one-another and in unspoken agreement decided that they had to trust someone under the circumstances and these people seemed quite sincere; and Tim softly reminded them of what history told of what it meant when a Roman officer made such an oath in the presence of a priest of Mars. They all exchanged names throughout the meal, and once Marcus led them to the bunkhouse prepared for them he stoked up the fire to ward off the early March chill, he bid them a good night, calling every one of them by name. Before Marcus allowed himself any rest, he spent some time in meditation and giving thanks for finding allies and giving him and the general some hope… in what were either men like himself of truly something else. But it was a hope he could never speak aloud even to the general who he trusted with his life.

XXXXXXXXX

Though it was late in the night, the heroes gathered to talk over their situation in the bunkroom. Young Sunbird could hardly keep his eyes open though he was excited beyond compare. He had never imagined his dads had such extraordinary adventures and he was delighted to be in the middle of it. However, he had his serious moments and knew his intensive training had been for good reason. His last thought as he nodded off was that he hoped he would be able to help their new friends. Superboy picked up his delightful son and laid him on one of the low bunks and pulled the wool covers over him. He and Red Robin worried for him immeasurably. This was supposed to be a simple reconnaissance and had become a very serious predicament. But besides his fathers, there were another five young heroes here who would protect him fiercely.

"Alright Tim, what do you think is going on?" Nightwing asked his younger brother, deferring to his keener detective skills and logical reasoning.

"You remember the low wall foundations just a few hundred yards to the south of the archeological site we were scouting?"

"No. I admit that the mission did not have my full attention until well after we landed." The older brother answered.

"No worries, if Batman had thought this would have happened he would not have suggested bringing the baby-bird." Red Robin responded, using his pet name for Sunbird. "That line of stone foundations runs the whole length of the UK from the Irish Sea to the North Sea. It marked the border of Rome and defended Britannia from the uncivilized north. The wall right outside is the same wall... Hadrian's Wall. There is no other explanation for it. We left the same barrow that we entered. 'Where' is not our concern now. 'When' is the question. There is a likely 200-year span of time that we ended up in, but I am thinking it is the later period. I can guess better in daylight when we can see the Roman fort and wall. In a way, we are lucky. Rome in this period is unstable and many emperors have been cruel and the cruelty extends to the populace, but it is far better than elsewhere in the world and it is a culture we can better understand. That being said, remember that the general spoke about apologizing for what Rome has become. I think he's of the old school, when it was a Republic and freer."

"Good thoughts honey, but how do we get back?" Superboy asks as he returns from tucking in their son.

"I only have two thoughts on that so if any of you have an idea please speak up." Robin says wearily. "Obviously magic got us here and we'll need it to get back. Angel, can you commune with those stones enough to reverse that portal we came through?"

"I don't know. I can't reverse it, I don't know magic like that, but the barrow might have the age and memory and might of its own for me to manipulate if it hasn't been tainted. Basically like pulling a doorframe off and turning it around." Their slender young teammate responded.

"And if you can't?" Blue Beetle asked as he held Impulse's hand.

"Then…" Robin interjected "we travel south."

"To where?"

"Greece. Specifically, Themyscira; and see if we can get help from Wonder Woman. This is long before she came to the outside world, but we know her to be trustworthy and honorable. We might be able to convince her to help us. If anything she knows a lot more about magic than we do. I know it's a slim chance that we would be allowed entry to their island since they do not permit men. But to be blunt, none of us have the least bit of interest in women. That may help."

"And if they don't let us in?" Kon asks the obvious question.

"Then…" Tim says slowly "Our last option is to see if Kon and Brian can get that deep."

"Deep?" Brian asked.

"Yeah. You two are the only ones that can get to Atlantis alive, maybe Jamie too. No one knows where Atlantis is, either now or then. But there is an island in the Mediterranean Sea called Santorini that exploded five hundred years before now… 2500 years before our time. It destroyed the Minoan civilization. I remember Kaldur mentioning a tragedy in Atlantis that was about that old. It's the same place that Plato called Atlantis. I think the tragedy in Atlantis caused the one above, but it marks a place to start. It's a wild guess but It's our last ditch effort if you all agree."

"That's why we trust you brother." Nightwing said after a moment's thought. "You already have realistic plans for worst case and best case scenarios."

"Thank you Dick, but my worry about the barrow mound is this: When we came out of the mound there were the savaged bodies and when we returned afterward to find the missing patrol the encampment we found was bustling. It seemed like a gathering. It would be a hell of a fight to give Brian the time he needs to speak to the stone."

"Tim, there's something else." Bart says, finally speaking up. "Explain to me how our new friend learned Interlak. We speak it in the future, you know that. I could work out the Latin with a little effort, but after a couple minutes around the guy I was understanding him perfectly before I even realized it."

"Yeah, I heard it too, but in Spanish while I was letting the scarab translate for us. But I just kinda drifted off of it and started hearing his voice in Spanish, not the scarab's voice." Jamie adds.

"Yeah, well our priest friend might be more of something than just a priest." Kon weighed in. "I caught the general's comment on secrets as he looked at him. I think he's a metahuman really, and he's probably hiding it behind his priestly duties."

"Probably so, honey." Tim said. "But we all need rest and I truly think we are among friends. Like I said earlier, no Roman swears protection in from of a priest of Mars like that and speaks falsely. Its part of their culture, so let's get some sleep. Daylight will bring more answers and I hope to talk to this general and the priest of Mars."

"He's a Martian then…" Bart said with a chuckle. "Marcus the Martian!" And the group climbed into their bunks with Bart's amusing giggle in their ears.

XXXXXXXXXX

Tim was the first to rise. He hadn't had what most people would call enough sleep, but given the circumstances it was enough for him. They had come to this place and time the night before, but in the streaming morning light their clothes would mark them to anyone who saw them. He pulled the door of the bunkhouse open to find Marcus with a large bundle of cloth in his arms ready to knock on the door.

"I brought clothes for you. Maybe it might be prudent to hide yourselves for the time being."

"It would be…" Tim started saying as Kon came up behind him. "But we have no way to pay you for the clothes and other things we may need, to say nothing of the food and lodging you have provided."

"There is no need. Accept it as part of our hospitality." The young warrior-priest tells him as he sets a stack of tunics and cloaks and caligae, the sturdy hob-nailed boots of Romans, of varying sizes on an empty bunk.

"My love…" Kon tells his husband Tim. "We have our rings. It is the only thing of value here. I don't like it but…"

Marcus hears the word of rings and his eyes drift to the hands of the two young heroes, and sees something that stirs him. He takes up Tim's left hand respectfully and sees two rings. One is a bright argent platinum ring and the other a rough, but more precious, iron ring layered in differing bands gathered from three different places.

"I would not accept any payment. And those rings are quite precious. The general would rightly flay me for accepting any payment for what he offers freely. But the other ring you wear… Robin. That is more precious by far."

Marcus' eyes drift beyond focus of those around him as he touches the small iron band.

"It holds a fate, a secret too precious to be bought or sold." He says in a hollow voice from the depth of his concentration. The young man then draws back in caution, like he wants so dearly to reveal a secret.

"It is priceless to me, for reasons that me be difficult to describe." Tim says wistfully with Kon at his side. It was the engagement ring that Kon had made for him with his own hands.

"The general would like to speak with you; and then perhaps we can talk." Marcus tells Robin wishing to share the conversation of friendship.

"Will you be present for this meeting with General Silva to… translate?" Tim asks. He is convinced of Marcus' abilities and does not wish to rely on his own meager Latin skills, but also he doesn't want to call Marcus out on his ability just yet.

"Yes, and the general will ask me what I think of you." He says honestly.

"And what do you think of us Marcus?" Tim asked as an aside.

"I think you and your friends are something we cannot understand but should trust."

"You do not know us Marcus." Tim said darkly.

"Yes I think I do, my friend. I see how you look at Kon and your love is reflected. I do not know how it is possible, but the way you drift about the boy protectively would make me think he was your own child (though you seem too young to have a child), but it is clear that all of you would fight fiercely for him. But who am I to question the gods."

"True on all points, Marcus. We were uniquely blessed to have our own son. I cannot easily explain to you how it was possible. Suffice to say, he is our son and unique as your general recognized."

"My general does know how to assess people. No question. But he awaits us."

Tim was uncertain about taking off his uniform. It was his only personal link to his correct time and place in history. Nonetheless, he selected a small tunic from the stack of clothes and peeled off his uniform and donned the Roman tunic and bound the hobnailed boots to his feet and threw the blood red cloak around his shoulders.

"Kon… "Tim asks with unspoken questions.

"Yes sweetheart. I will pass the clothes on to the others and take care of our son." Superboy answers to his unspoken questions then hugs and kisses him before he leaves, knowing Tim has the harder duty of finding their place in the madness they find themselves in.

XXXXXXXXXX

Tim returns to the Praetorium with Marcus to find the general already back at his maps and messages.

"So… you return. I hope you have been able to rest a little?"

"Yes general, a little." Tim responds trying to hide his exhaustion.

"You lie poorly boy. I will take it as compliment. You show your true self, but feel you need to impress me. I think you would never show a moment's weakness otherwise." And Tim bows slightly in answer to the man's wisdom.

"Our priest tells me you came from the mound beyond our wall. Were I a cynical man I would call him a fool. But I am not ready to call anything false right now."

"What of the mound then, sir?" Tim asks hopefully.

"No one will make it there and back now. I can send no more scouts, but we can almost see it from the wall. The man you rescued was the last that will see it closely. He died in the night, much to my anguish. He volunteered and he had courage. I hoped you and your brother had come in time. But I think it made no difference. He died screaming in madness… he cried out "Tainted … they drink of dark waters." So, you come in the same night that this happens and I do not think it is an accident. It does not diminish your feat of bringing him home. But, what can you say to ease my concern for my men?"

Tim heard the rage in the man's voice. There were 20 excuses he could make, all of them valid. But he saw the general's honesty and honor and responded in kind.

"I don't know… We thought he was poisoned, but not like what you are describing."

"Follow…" the general commanded, and he picked up the baton of a legate, a gold-trimmed ivory rod capped with an imperial eagle, the symbol of his dispensation from Rome to rule, and stalked off. They walked up an exterior walkway up to the wall's top and looked north.

"During the night many more people came this close to us. Their numbers increase." The general looked and pointed north and Tim's breath caught in his throat as he saw the many black-clad and black-painted bodies at the base of the wall with Roman arrows in them.

"They gather and you were very foolish… and lucky… last night. Their numbers have increased daily. You will not return there now. It is their seat of power apparently."

"Sir, that place is our only way home, we think."

"Yes, Marcus spoke of it. If any other man told me this I would send him to the healers and philosophers to ease his mind, but I know to trust him. But you may have your chance. We are going there anyway." He says fatefully.

Northward the leaden sky hung grey with the smoke of many fires and some great wrong hanging in the air. Every so often the wind would turn southward and he would catch the flinty iron-tinged scent of a great wrong being committed.

"War approaches us and we have been gathering to meet it. Look behind you across the valley." The general gently commanded with a hand on Robin's shoulder. For the first time Tim was able to take in the full measure of the Roman wall, fortress and huge encampment beyond it. He saw a great encampment of well-ordered tents in lines throughout the valley and to the edge of the southern hills beyond.

"There are a people to our north, though I think calling them 'people' is a generous statement, who mean to attack us. The people of this vast island are looking to me for defense and I cannot truly provide it. We can only buy time." He said sadly but the steel in his eyes was undiminished. At a gesture from Marcus he left the general to his thoughts and the young priest led him back to the encampment.

"I think you would like to know what is happening, since you are so caught in the trap of our own making and it grieves me."

"Yes Marcus, I would."

"The people beyond this wall are the Damnnoni. I do not know if it the name means the same, but we call them 'the Damned.' A madness fills them. Emperor Hadrian built this wall to oppose them, but they have grown stronger while Rome grows weaker. This was our frontier of civilization, but Rome has been on this island for almost 400 years. It is a jewel to many of us. The summers are mild and bright with sun. Its winters are deep and cold, but in a slumbering way where the land rests as do we. Most of the soldiers you meet here are descended by many generations from the first legions who came here and their people have flourished and built up the fields of grain and groves of fruit trees that the land blesses us with. General Silva was posted here 14 years ago when I was but a small child. This place moved him deeply and he saw the chance to make on this frontier what Rome was in the old days of the Republic. Back home our government, the emperor, and our people have turned to the cruelty of the games for distraction from our weakness to defend ourselves. But here the general has held true to the old ideals. He saw the potential of this land and its people and as he built an army to defend them he also shut down the arenas, built schools and baths, and encouraged the peaceful growth of the people here. Instead of the cries of 'Bread and Blood' from the arena, he prefers to shed no blood and there is bread aplenty. But do not mistake him, he is a brilliant general and a great warrior. Mars one day will be proud to count him in his host."

"That is all very fine, Marcus, but you are avoiding something. For all the pride and strength, you have the look of doom on your face, and the general's." Tim tells him in his unique version of soft and stern, which was imminently respectful.

"Yes, and I should not be surprised that you notice." Marcus starts to haltingly explain. "The general is disgusted by the Imperium and yearns for the days of the old Republic. But no matter how strong our legions are we have grown weak and the borders of Rome herself are being tested. The general was recalled to Rome but he refused to leave this land and its people that he came to love to defend a weak emperor and the even weaker Senate. He was given orders to take his own life."

Marcus' voice hitched a moment at the statement and then composed himself.

"So… our enemies are on every border and our decadence keeps us from defending it as we should. There are Germanic tribes called Saxons that have crossed the sea and work their way across Britannia even now. But General Silva believes that what lies beyond the wall is far worse than what comes behind us. He intends to buy time for the people of this land to make their peace with them, hard as it will be, and preserve their lives for the future by stamping out the taint of darkness to the north."

The young man turns back to Robin to look him in the eye and composes himself…

"Do you understand what I am telling you?" He asks desperately gripping Robin's wrist. "We will buy time for the future with our lives. Only by wiping out what stands to the north will this land survive. You already have seen some of what these creatures are capable of. What will happen if they are unleashed throughout Britannia? So yes, the general was ordered to his death, but he intends to give it some meaning."

"But Marcus…" Robin begins to say haltingly. "You realize that without resupply or support you cannot keep up a long campaign."

"I know, my friend; and we aren't. We are going out to meet that enemy and wipe them out."

"Then strike now. Their numbers have increased ten-fold since last night when we came here. How many more where there be in a few days?"

"More… many, many more. That is why we wait. We want them all here so that when we march to meet them we can break the back of this scourge to secure the future."

Marcus pauses thinking about the land he loves and the general who he respects and the future that he knows his new friend has knowledge of. He turns to Robin with a fateful look in his handsome eyes and asks:

"Tell me it matters Robin… Perhaps it would be unwise to tell me all of the future you know, but tell me that this land flourishes and has meaning." Marcus begs as he reaches out and grips his arm again either in desperate friendship or to steady himself.

Timothy Drake has never felt less like a hero than he does now, knowing the sacrifice these men are about to make and he tells the young priest:

"I will tell you this much… this land flourishes. It has its growing pains but eventually its kings and queens build an enlightened empire that spans the world. In time they rediscover the land that Northmen will find on the other side of the sea and they will build another country there. That country will break away from it source and build a nation so strong and free that good men the world over will fight to keep it free. We had a president once, you might call him "pro-consul," who had described that country as the 'shining city on a hill.' That statement gave hope to millions. So yes, Marcus… it matters a great deal."

Robin just looks at their new friend a moment and their eyes meet silently. They grip one another's wrists in the old Roman version of a handshake while silent tears of vindication drip down Marcus' eyes; and Robin stalks off to meet with his Team and family to tell them what they may be facing. There only way home is about to be a battleground without hope. He walks back into the bunkhouse where they spent the night and finds his friends eating the breakfast that the soldiers have brought them. He drops sullenly to a chair and begins to eat.

"Well?... "Superboy asks "What did you find out?" Robin looks up to him from his seat and says to their boy standing at Superboy's side:

"Son, keep watch at the door; and Brian, I think you will get your chance at the stones of the mound." And the gathered young heroes listen as Robin describes to them their situation. Hours pass as they talk and discuss their predicament. They decide on a course of action, but it really is the only course open to them, though it will be so very hard for them all. The boys all take back off their Roman tunics that were brought to them and put their uniforms on and file out of the bunkhouse and into the Praetorium to see the general.

They all walk past the guards who already know them by sight but are a little surprised by their clothes in the bright daytime light. They find the general at his great desk still studying reports, maps, and contemplating how to make the best of what they have. All the young men stop in a broad line before him and Robin steps forward and addresses General Silva.

"Sir, how can we help you? Our only way home is at the barrow-mound and that is now the camp of your enemy, now OUR enemy. My friends and I will fight with you. We might make a difference."

The general looks up at the boys and hears what Tim just told him and he replays the words again and again in his own mind. He drops his head into his hands and his shoulders briefly shakes in the unuttered tears of gratitude. He looks up entirely unashamed and stands and snatches up the silver cup as his side and raises it to them and drains it and launches it across the room where it clatters dented to the floor. Even the stalwart and unflappable Praetorian guards behind him are moved by the moment.

"I will get you home. You have my oath on that… and my people may survive."

"They will." Brian says surprisingly with granite in his voice. "You have OUR oath on that."

Brian had never been the talker or displayed that fierce demeanor more common to his friends, but something had changed in him when he understood that their own way home was only through him. But where other people might question themselves and their ability, he was rising to the occasion and had found a wellspring of courage and strength even he didn't know he possessed, or did know but was too timid in the past to accept it.

A few moments discussion passed and Superboy left the hall with Angel at his side and they left the camp and walked a league southward to the old stone quarry from where much of the stone from this section of the Roman wall came from. Robin and Nightwing sat for several hours discussing strategy with General Silva and Marcus and formulated their plans. During the afternoon, even from the great distance, the thunder-like sound of shattering stone could be heard from afar. Having no further duties and seeing how Sunbird was becoming bored and fidgety, Marcus made an offer:

"Tim, Kon… would you mind if I took your son out for a little fresh air? The soldiers already adore him and he seems to want to break the 'boredom.' Believe me when I tell you that he is a safe in this camp as any could possibly be."

Robin looks over to his brother Nightwing and they both smile in growing knowledge of little Con's latent ability to charm the boots off anyone he meets.

"Of course Marcus, will we see you later?"

"Yes, we will have several evenings to talk and eventually I will have to return this little badger to you." He says with a smile.

XXXXXXXXXX

The sun had just dropped below the horizon when Superboy and Concrete Angel returned from the quarry that was ancient even by the standards of the Romans. In the quarry he heard the voices of stone that laughed at the Roman's youth. They led giant sturdy wagons pulled by two oxen each and covered in the leathers of unoccupied tents that they had taken. Brian's exhaustion was easily seen, but he had a certain satisfaction and strength that marveled even Kon. Something had changed in the boy that Tim and Kon had rescued from terrible indignity, but Kon noted it to be a good thing because if anything his mood and humor were better than he had ever seen. He was reaching toward something that further made something more.

Leading the ox-carts into the army's camp set in the corner made by the fortress and wall, Kon sees that the camp has built up its fires to ward off the early spring chill and give light to their revelry. He passes a laughing group of legionnaires clapping and singing and almost swallowed his tongue when he sees his son in a Roman tunic pulled over his black and red uniform dancing on a shield carried by four young and strong soldiers as they laughed. He knew the boy was a charmer, but this was on a level he would never have expected. But it was bright and cheerful and knowing what they faced he realized that his son was even better protected knowing that these men lauded him like their mascot. A moment's jealousy of his son's love entered his mind but was shunted aside by the shadow of an enormous centurion in his path. It happened to be the same bear of a man that Conner had hoisted into the air in the general's office the night before. He stood tall and strong with his grapevine rod in his hand. Kon was sure that there was about to be an incident. He had no wish to create any ill will to the people he had come to immensely respect, but the man dropped the rod and snatched Kon up in a great brotherly hug with a bellowing laugh and led him off to the nearest campfire with his arm around his shoulders.

Several short days passed in the same manner with laughter and joy. Tim was amazed at the happiness of men who he knew were doomed. That evening he and the Team had joined Marcus in the baths of the fortress and asked him about it.

"Marcus, every day more men join your army and I don't see the least bit of grim determination in them." Tim asked as he peeled off his uniform and basked in the hot steam.

"You won't. They know who we fight and what we intend to do. Mars loves his warriors and they love him back. In peacetime these men would sing to him for a good harvest but now they sing to him to ensure that there will be a next harvest. Do you find it so surprising that these men fight out of love and not for lust of battle?"

Robin had his answer the moment Marcus spoke. As a little boy he sought out Batman out of hero-worship and fascination, but after his father and mother were murdered he put his training into use out of love for them and their memory. He understood completely.

"No, my friend, I think I understand quite well."

The guys had all came to the baths, mostly to clean up. Unlike their own time in history where you just went to the shower to get clean and then leave and dress, here it was a social occasion as well. Having all spent time in the collegiate environment of Mount Justice none of them were terribly body-shy, but the social aspect was a little difficult of a couple of them. They just had a hard time carrying on a conversation while butt-naked and wet. For others it was no problem at all. After getting clean they would massage their skin with olive oil and many of the soldiers helped their friends with the task as well as massage out the knots and aches of their training-tired muscles.

Young Sunbird, however, was incorrigible as ever. Seeing His dad Kon massage warm oil into Tim's shoulders he took a cue and snatched up a small bottle of warm oil and drizzled it onto Marcus' shoulders and proceeded to massage him with his own very strong hands. Marcus innocently relaxed and moaned in relaxation… until he heard his new friend Tim playfully say:

"Oh god son, give it a rest… You're barking up the wrong tree." And Kon felt scandalized seeing his son beet-red in the face as he worked the knots out of the shoulders of the cute young priest. Young Conner was a catch, for someone his age. Though he was a thin and hyper boy his lean physique was more of a muscled thin than a skinny underfed one and there was little of the youthful fullness on him. As he moved his perfectly tanned skin (which was a result of Superboy's love of the sun) slid over tight strong muscles. To Marcus' credit he was completely clueless until Tim spoke up and then failed to hold his laughter. Not that he was laughing at the boy, but he laughed at the situation once he understood what was happening. Not that any of the guys could blame him. Marcus was an amazingly handsome young man with dark brown hair and bright eyes that were full of mystery. Impulse witnessed the incident and had a moment's thought as Little Con massaged oil into Marcus' shoulder. Apparently Bart had looked about half a second too long at Marcus since Jamie gave him a smack on the back of the head.

Finally, the clueless young Roman caught on. His innate good humor was strengthened by the joyous absurdity and he laughed heartily and gave little Con a friendly and brotherly hug, still thinking about what his general had said about a badger in a nice face. Then young Sunbird stalked off to sulk a bit until Bart and Jamie caught up with him to keep him company. But he was such a good-natured kid that his sulking only lasted moments. As the night wore down, Tim and Kon both noticed that many of the Roman soldiers would say goodnight to the heroes, but stop to simply put a little oil on their hand and lightly rub little Sunbird's shoulder and kiss his head as they passed. At first Kon was taken aback by it, even though he knew that this was a culture that innocently revered youthful beauty and his son had it in full measure. But then when he considered that most of those men has sons and daughters of their own, he understood that added to his charm they saw him as a surrogate for their own children and it eased their hearts to be able to treat him so kindly… They were blessing him.

"Tim…" Kon said softly.

"Yeah honey?" He responded.

Kon swallowed his trepidation and spoke swiftly since Marcus was coming their way. "You know that these guys will look after our boy, right? And he loves them back?"

"Yes, and it gives me a lot of comfort that they do."

"Me too honey… but what about Junior during the battle? What about him seeing all these guys who he's made friends with… you know… not being able to go home? That's why they're spoiling him so much."

"I know Kon. I've thought about it but didn't want to say anything. We will have to help him as best we can. But he has a better chance of getting through this than we do. If he needs help to deal with it afterward then maybe, we can ask Diana. She is a warrior and also ironically seems to have a mother's instinct. Canary has always been great with the guys when we needed her help this way, but I think given her history she would be better."

"Tim… I know how you feel about these things… but we need to protect our son. We can't speak for our friends. We're all right in what we do right now… but our son."

Tim slept only a little that night, and even that was fitful.

They finally gathered the Team and dressed, and each of them thought that history had lost something considering they all had enjoyed the baths and steam and the oils massaged into their skin. Jamie with his Spanish ancestry and its connection to Rome more innately understood them and thought that it could be a boom business if done right. Not the nasty "bath-houses" you read about in tabloids, but some place you could go and swim, enjoy the steam room, have a drink with friends and get a massage. Jamie heard the sound "cha-ching" in his head and decided to look more into the possibilities if they got out of the mess they were in.

The next morning Red Robin climbed the steps to the top of the Wall that stretched from sea to sea and looked to the north. General Silva stood staring north in contemplation.

"We are at mutual purposes boy." The lean and wolfish general told Tim.

"That mound is the seat of their power and that is where you need to go to get home, if you can get my men there and break the back of their forces and can hold it while you do what you need to. My priest tells me that only together can we succeed. He has faith in you and I have led many men for a long time and I know how to read a man's worth. You are your friends and family are a boon to this army. "

"Thank you sir." Tim responds. "Yes that mound is our way home but if we can help your cause getting there we are pleased to do so; and more so since I now know why you are doing this. But does it have to be final? Fight them hard, yes! But fight them, withdraw and fight again!"

"No boy… then I come too close to the Saxons which will see my threat and treat this land harsher. I am giving the emperor what he demanded and if my priest is right, I secure a future for these people. I've always said that Marcus has no idea how to keep a secret. But this time I am glad. I do not manipulate men, Timothy. I lead them. Men have come here to help the fight against the Damnnoni. Two more cohorts marched in this morning. Word has spread that I am doomed anyway. The emperor has demanded my life, and I am giving it, just in a different way. The Saxons move north and my people just need time to deal with them. They cannot be defeated but my people are better served by them than these animals before us."

"You keep saying 'your people.' What do you mean by that?" Robin asks.

"Boy," The general said softly, and Tim realized that calling him a boy was not demeaning, but a hope of him keeping his youth and respecting it at the same time: "A governor-general has two duties: lead his army and protect the people of his region. I have taken both duties to heart. I have freedom of rule in Britannia. I know what Rome was 300 years ago and I know what we lost. We have tried to recreate it here. Look at this army. Are they all blood Romans? No. There are Gauls, Germanii, Spaniards, even a few tough Judeans in these legions. They all share the same dream, a Republic led by free men in peace. They come here to help make it happen. You enjoyed the baths last night?"

"Yes…"

"Not a single one of the people working there were slaves. Slavery is unknown here and instituting it is punishable by… me. There are no arenas in Britannia. There was one in Londinium when I came. I had it pulled down. The lives of men and animals are too precious for it to be sport for barbaric masses. We have done well here. But only lately has the north stirred and Rome weakened. I do not know what caused it but I will fight it for the sake of the people who trust me. Marcus told me something of what you said to him the other night…" The tall general turns and looks into the eyes of Robin and his broad leadership voice softens.

"He tells me that what we do here will matter… far beyond the scope of what we can comprehend. I trust his words, but I trust it more having met you. You give me peace and I hear my men speak of you all with words of victory."

"General, we cannot win this war for you." Robin tells him in blunt honesty.

"Oh, I know that boy. But you can make it possible for us to not sell our lives cheaply and wipe out a scourge that would enslave my people in darkness. It is a double-edged sword… I can get you to the barrow if you can get my men to the barrow. You will go home, wherever that is, and we will preserve Britannia."

Tim's eyes narrow under his mask and he pays the general the highest honor that Tim has to offer… the release of any secret. He pulls off his mask and looks the general dead in the eyes. Flavius Silva returns the stare and pulls off his crested helmet and grips Tim's wrist in the old imperial handshake.

"It will be tomorrow. Marcus is making an offering at sunset. Will you join me and my men?"

"Yes. But general… I suspect my brother knows what caused this and he has not spoken of it to me. We have each other's trust so if he does not talk about it then it is too dreadful to consider. He wants this defeated as much as I do. It matters to us as much it does to you… and that means we all do, and we are an enemy for them to take very seriously."

"I know that, but take no chances. You are the vindication of this army. You come from beyond history to fight with us and my men love you with their blood. Your loss will break them."

"We won't. I want my son to grow up back home in a free place… and both his fathers will fight for it."

"If it gives you peace, leave him with me and my guards when you advance, if you are still set on doing that. Marcus tells me you know much about us from 'history.' Do you know the fierce loyalty of the Praetorians?"

"Yes General." Robin answers.

"If that does not give you peace then know I will protect your son until you have made your way to the mound then my guards and I will bring him to you."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"You can't know…" General Silva responds softly "This is what trust means. But suffice to say he looks too much like my son back in Capua that I will never see again."

Tim's head hangs in shame for his distrust for a moment.

"No boy… stand tall. If I were you I would ask the same question."

XXXXXXXXXX

"This armor was given to me when I was 14 when I first took my holy vows to Mars." Marcus says as he leads out a very proud Conner in Roman armor.

"Son, stay near Marcus and the general. Those tall guys in the blue… do not leave them, okay? Remember what I told you. Never go far from the guys in the blue cloaks." Tim says to his son as he hides his desperation. "General Silva…Marcus… we leave our son in your protection."

"My blood will stain this land before his does. You have my oath on that." General Silva responds again with a salute. Marcus was about to say something when the throb of deep war drums started to punctuate the crisp and chill morning. It pulsed and droned and as the breeze turned and blew southward till Kon could smell the flinty taint of blood in the air. Bart ran to the top of the wall and saw the enemy move southward toward them. Their skin was stained almost black and when he could finally smell the wind he realized what it was… the didn't wear war-paint. It was blood.

Marcus set his red-crested helmet on his head and cinched the ties under his chin to hold it in place. The drums continued and he looked on in irritation and gave a signal to the Roman trumpeters and his eyes glazed in concentration. The brassy response of the horns matched the tempo of the drums and blew louder and more clear as each note echoes. It combined with the drums and became an epic music. He had turned the sound of war-drums to something mighty and stirring and even the cynical Tim could feel its effect. Hearts were emboldened and you could see the hands of the soldiers itching for the feel of their swords. With a cry from the general in a break of the music every soldier drew his sword. The beat of the drums were now matched by the clash of Roman legions beating their great rectangular shields with their short-swords. Marcus ceremoniously took up his shield, a smaller oblong cavalry shield, and drew his own blade, a long version of the Roman gladius.

"Dear god… what is that?" Kon asked, referring to the melding of sounds, horn and drum, and its effect on the men.

Marcus turned to the two heroes, Red Robin and Superboy, and said in an unusual deep but comforting voice as his eyes flared:

"WAR!"

His eyes flared in a deep red light. Not the red gleam that Kon's eyes would get in his rage, but this was the deep red of blood. 'Holy shit' Robin thought briefly. He had paid attention in his Latin and history classes. In Rome there had been 12 Salii… warrior-priests of Mars... only 12 in the entire empire. They were young, handsome youths from the best people of Rome… but this one was a meta. Tim had suspected he was a meta, but hadn't considered the Salii. Now he understood why such a hardened noble general like Flavius Silva had him as an adviser. He was deep in his communion with his power and saluted the two heroes with a right hand beat across his chest. The gates of the wall opened and the Roman cohorts marched out and the Team of young heroes took their place. The Romans matched their pace to the tempo of their swords striking their shields. In strict and well-drilled formation, they marched out like an unstoppable juggernought.

Behind the army men drew out two heavy wagons drawn by massive oxen. Between them walked Brian and Jamie, carefully tending their cargo as they continued all the way to the front line behind a narrow rank of legionnaires. The enemy in their war-paint of blood began to shriek and cheer, trying to drown out the horns and chant of the Romans. Battle was upon them and Red Robin turned to his friends and said… nothing. They had fought many battles against extraordinary foes. But mortal war was unknown to them. Robin and Nightwing were the most vulnerable as they had no powers, but they had skill and intellect to match any warrior. Robin and Superboy hugged each other as did Nightwing and Kid Flack and Impulse and Blue Beetle. They gathered with their arms around each other in a circle and said nothing but a series of "I love you." Among friends and family. They found their place among the Roman cohorts and hoped their ploy would work.

Century after century marched forward as the clear blue sky turn darker, more shadowed. In the center the century of 80 Roman legionnaires, hand-picked by the general, marched forward proudly in a broad flank. The dark chant and drums of the enemy grew darker, but when they heard the answering call of the bright brass trumpets of the legion their centurion called out:

"Erumpere!"

The soldiers split their shields and stepped aside to give room to their friends. Superboy stood at the center like the cornerstone of might. His bright blue eyes were more accustomed to laughter, but they now narrowed in a slight red gleam that promised doom, knowing their son was behind them. Robin at his right hand and Nightwing at his left were the bludgeons. Dicks escrima sticks and Tim's staff would be able to tear hell for a long time. On each side of them were the speedsters, Impulse and Kid Flash. Tim saw a line of Celtic chariots behind the first ranks of the enemy horde and said:

"We need to get to them before they get to our friends. Dick… be careful. Kon, my husband, be something we and the Romans can rally around if we need." Tim said giving final instructions, but leaving it open enough to let them all be themselves and do what they do best.

"What about us?" Kid Flash asks at Nightwing's left side.

"You and Impulse… give us chaos. Wreak havoc in their ranks. No one but you can do that. But the spears and arrows.. kill it." The yellow-clad speedster grips his boyfriend's hand and they share a moment of emotional strength with each other and he lets go so Nightwing can reach his weapons.

The slavering mob before them started to chafe at the wait while the Romans and heroes stared them down. Robin was the first to make a move when he cried out:

"BRIAN… NOW!"

Behind them Jamie yanked away the tents covering the cargo in the ox-carts. Brian summoned armor of stone from the rocky soil. He had attuned himself to the Romans around him and his armor reflected it… he wore the Roman banded armor, the lorica segmentata, and a crested helmet all in black granite. His great wings spread out behind him and he rose into the sky as his hematite eyes flashed in its dark silver. Blue Beetle looked upward at his friend as he took to the sky and thought: "Shit… he's really pissed."

Concrete Angel rose above the front ranks of the Romans… and right above his friends to were so immensely dear to him and saw from above the expanse of the enemy before them. The argent-black gaze he gave the enemy was full of hate and power. He gestured with his hands downward on each side and the great burden of the ox-carts rose into the sky. Days ago he and Kon had gone to the quarry to gather stone for this assault, but he had found a seam of shale… and the stone that rose into the sky is great dark gleaming shards. The enemy did not yet know to fear. The front ranks of the enemy rushed to the battle line held by Roman troops in their formations, but that's not where Concrete Angel aimed his attacks… The Romans has locked their shields in their classic testudo formations and could withstand it. He attacked the hordes of slavering sub-humans behind them in the many thousands. The long slivered shards of shale rained down on the enemy slaughtering them in waves and by the thousands. It broke the back of their first assault but they had many more to send. Tim had never asked him to make that call, to do such a thing. But he thought that maybe Tim could never go far enough. Not that he wasn't strong enough… he believed in Tim and Kon were the best thing that he had known, but there had been no vengeance for his murdered mother and he was one and a half millennium from home. He remembered when Wonder Woman slapped him and said "Remember who you are!"

Concrete Angel now knew fully who and what he was. The hematite gleam of his eyes grew and he finally expended all of his shale missiles and drew the great sword of slate off his back from Gotham Cathedral and strode in like a son of Mars. If Marcus could have seen it, he would have wept at the tragic yet epic beauty.

Flashes of lightning started at the outer edges of the enemy and not so slowly made its way inward. They know that it's the efforts of their friends Kid Flash and Impulse. Below him he saw the flash of steel as Red Robin snapped open his staff to full length and he and his brother, Nightwing, dove into the enemy ranks led by Superboy. His best friends were human, his husband was human, and he respected what it meant to be human. Brian dove in for this very reason. He leaped forward off his right foot and dove into the rushing horde with outstretched wings and struck out with abandon. Tim saw in his periphery his husband and brother-in-law fighting for their lives. Nightwing's escrima sticks shattered skulls and bones every time they struck. Robin was a little younger and faster, and more calculating, and therefore the strikes of his staff were already a setup for the next strike so that he took out two or three enemies with every blow. Kid Flash and Impulse had driven in from the flanks. Not a single arrow or sword-strike could touch them. Both the speedsters could beat 10 enemies in the time it would take for even Superboy to hit one. Impulse was faster, however, and called out to Kid Flash… "Wally! The spears!" Even the great competence of the Romans for war didn't realize why not a single spear reached their ranks. Bart and Wally intercepted every one. From time to time Bart would launch himself upward off the body of a falling enemy, catch a spear in mid-flight, and then turn about and drive it into another one of the Damnnoni. But… there were just so many of them. The five heroes on the ground were fighting with the strength of an entire cohort of Roman soldiers and the speedsters ensured that not one arrow or spear got through. But they were only five guys on the ground. There were no more of the long sharp shards of shale that he had made and saw that the hordes were moving past his five friends.

"Jamie! We need to go in!" Brian called out and he stretched out his wings to a solid horizontal plane, more like Osiris than an angel. Robin had accidentally made him what he was and Superboy had avenged him. He saw them surrounded and fighting for their lives. The problem wasn't their ability to fight, it was that for every one they defeated there were ten more to take their place, so he decided to 'thin the herd' as Damian might say. He pulled his slate sword from off his back and dove in at incredible speed far beyond the front of the battle. When he impacted he left a trail of fallen Damnnoni and he tucked into a roll and came back to his feet with his sword leading the way. By now the battle was fully engaged. The first two testudo formations started break under the onslaught of the enemy. But one century of eighty men broke through the lines and headed straight for the two men in a chariot directing the battle. Many of them were the young handsome men that had feted little Conner to days ago. Tim, Dick, and Kon were likewise surrounded but for those three it meant that there was always an enemy at hand to defeat.

From a distance, standing on the turf dike on the north side of the wall, reviewing and commanding the battle, General Silva sees one of his best centuries about to collapse. He gives a signal to the trumpeters to call another century to come to their aid. Little Sunbird stood between him and Marcus and saw the movement of the battle.

"General… they can't get there in time!" He cries out jumping up and down to get the general's attention. Then seeing that Silva has multiple responsibilities and has to make the dreadfully difficult decisions of what troops live or die, he makes a decision of his own. But as he's deciding he sees his daddy in the distance and the spear that dove right into his chest. The battle raged across the valley and the front ranks of the Roman XXIII legion had broken under the attack. He saw the spear in slow-motion and cried out…

"DADDY!" The boy shrieked. At that moment both the priest, general, and two fathers thought they had broken personal oaths. Two young and tall men in blue uniforms, fully armored dove after him to whatever doom. The Praetorians got there… almost in time.

The young son of Red Robin and Superboy did not realize or contemplate his dad's invulnerability. But even so far a way he could see Kon was tiring, something that should not be possible. This thought took the single second that he had before making that decision. He was not near as fast as Kon, much less his uncles Bart and Wally. But he could bolt short distances at great speed. He yanked off the Roman armor he had been given by Marcus, dropped it at his feet; and snatched the escrima sticks off his back and ran away from the protection of the General, Marcus and the Praetorian Guards… and right into the heart of the battle. Dread settled on the already burdened shoulders of General Silva.

"Revertimini puer!" 'Come back boy!' General Silva called out. His heart suddenly ached. He had given his oath to Superboy and Red Robin that little Conner would be best protected at his side. He was about to give the order for protection when he saw the blue cloaked Praetorians already rushing to Sunbird's side.

The boy's eyes gleamed in an argent silver and his escrima sticks struck out. He had made it to the testudo formation of his friends and saw that this century was commanded by the same centurion that his dad had hoisted up. But then he acknowledged the same thing Sunbird had… his daddy taking a spear in the chest. "Advena!" he cried out calling Kon by the pet name that Ursa had given him. "Stranger!" But it was cried with affection. It's not that he disliked Kon, quite the opposite. He was a proud man and Kon was the only one he knew that could put him down, as the incident in the general's office proved. But also, he knew Kon was fighting for his life for them. He was about to march the remains of his century to Superboy's aid when another vast group of the enemy dove into his ranks, but his men held. They were fighting to hold formation, but now that Sunbird was with them they gained in courage and struck back. Ursa was torn for a moment between helping his friend or keeping his century together and protecting Sunbird.

Little Con had his back turned to the enemy host while he was beating down another fiend, just as a charioteer drove into their ranks. The charioteer aimed right for the back of the boy and he would never see it coming. Ursa was half a second faster… and covered Sunbird with his own body. He cried out his last words fatefully "Conner! Your son."

Within brief seconds, Kon was at his side. The spear that both his son and the centurion had seen had never wounded Kon. He was so deep in his battle that when it broke trying to stab him in the back that he never felt it. The young Kryptonian clone caught Ursa as he fell and carefully laid him down on the grasses of the country he lived and died for. But he also saw that he had died defending his son, but he felt himself weakening as he went further inward at the enemy. Kon's rage and grief erupted in his chest and he stood up and snatched one of the enemy warriors out of the melee with that century. He slung him aside like an old trash bag and as he breathed heavily and his chest pounded his concealed rage erupted within him and his eyes flared in a ruby-red conflagration of rage. Tim peeled off his glove and yanked the old engagement band off, the one made of steel, and jammed it onto Kon's finger. Marcus said it was magical and he thought maybe it would keep Kon strong. Little Con was no more than 5'2" and he needn't even duck. He avenged himself on the Domnanni. His fury turned him 180 degrees and burnt down the entire front fighting that century. For his own part, Sunbird bolted once again from his father, but this time to seal the front with his father. Superboy and Sunbird took in the situation and Kon started to move out. Sunbird slid his escrima sticks into the scabbard on his back and swiftly picked up two short-swords from the fallen and ran to where Nightwing and Robin are fighting for their lives. Sunbird, small and fast like a flaming hawk, dove among the enemy leaving them shrieking in pain and his stolen swords slashed legs and blinded eyes.

Blue Beetle descended from the sky much as Concrete Angel had, He hovered over the battle while his symbiotic sonic cannons tore a huge swath into the enemy. The XXIII Legion had been decimated at this point, but far from broken. Even against these odds, general Silva cried out… "For our brother and Rome and Britannia!"

The few remaining centuries, the Praetorians, and the priest Marcus coldly made their way to the mound. The Team had never noticed, but Marcus had carried a smaller oval shield and the longer Roman sword… which was red with shed blood. This was no typical 'priest'… he fought like a demon amongst him and some of the great splashes of blood on him were his own.

"General… The boy… the stones!" Marcus cried out.

General Silva of the XXIII legion had to make a decision, send his Guards to protect little Sunbird… or push through to take the mound with the stones that their young stone wizard could use to get them home. But a general of the old Roman tradition had given his oath…

"Praetors… the boy!" General Silva called out.

As the two Guards went to retrieve Sunbird, Red Robin saw one of the crude chariots of the enemy bear down on his boy and protectors. This man driving it was different. His clothing was more refined and the look in his eye was more calculating than mad. He only had a moment to act… and so he did. He fired his ascension line rite at the chariot driver and pulled hard. He was already woefully tired, until it came to protecting his son. The line snapped out and wound its way around the charioteer's neck. He pulled hard and dragged him off his chariot, saving Sunbird and the Guards' lives… but the enemy fought back with a maniacal ferocity. He pulled back on the line to tighten it, but the drew his scimitar and started to drive it down on Tim. Scimitar?... like the odd language that Dick heard… there was something greater at stake if only he could learn the secret.

Two of the Praetorians covered Sunbird with their bodies and Tim awaited the fall of the sword… when Kon intercepted the attached line and pulled sharply, snapping the neck of the driver. Among the chaos of battle Kon hoped that Tim would not know what he had done, killing the driver, but he would never apologize. But with the reprieve, the last century surviving the battle, along with the few remaining Praetorians formed up and pushed toward the mound. Without the attacks of Beetle and Angle they would never have come so far. But the boy's blood had been stirred and he personally led the drive to the mound. The Romans were tested by the love of a powerful youth… they never looked aside as doom came upon them. His youthful ferocity made some of the older men remember what it was to be young and idealistic and give yourself into the hands of Fate.

XXXXXXXXX

Sunbird pushed through as his panicked father met him at the edge of the hill. Red Robin retracted the blade at the end of his staff and tried not to think about the killing and rationalized what they had done. Kon was first to the boy and no sooner had he gotten him in hand than Sunbird was crushed between the hugs of his fathers as they cried out. Tim's were far worse…

Concrete Angel dropped like a stone at the edge of the mound while under the covering fire of Blue Beetle. There were so few left to buy them time… the priest, the general, a few of the strongest soldiers, and the Praetorian Guard. Brian turned to the oncoming remnants of in a cry of defiance his stamped his foot and shook the foundation of the earth under them.

'Hold them…" he commanded. He had learned a new level of his might as his friends and family needed him. He wasn't polite. He strode of the mound and recognized the varying lumps on the mound.e commanded.

He stretched out his hands and hoped for enough time…

One of the Guard defending Sunbird fell with a sear in his throat… and the boy avenged him ten-fold. He dove in with his daggers and cut his way through and back again, but it also bought them more time.

"Soon Brian. I don't know how longer we can hold…" Red Robin called out.

"Soon, my friends." He responded, but it was a dark and stoney voice that didn't cause fear, but did demand respect. He stretched his hands out on the mound and closed his eyes… and started to draw up stones that were ancient in the time of Julius long before. The long buried stones came upright and set themselves in their original position and he put a thin strong hands on two vertical stones with a crossbeam of similar granite. His eyes narrowed in concentration as he rebuilt the passage that the has passed below ground… but with the portal reversed. Sweat beaded up on his brow as the remaining Romans began to fall… one by one.

There were so few of either army remaining now, and it became a test of who could survive a moment longer…

"Tim… not strong enough!... god help me… I'm sorry…" Brian called out in desperation. His problem was not the stone… his problem was the magic of time. He had found all the strength he needed… and he would need every moment of it.

"No damn it!" General Silva cried out at the end. "Someone must tell this tale… why we fought… why we died!"

His anguish over the boys that he had promised his protection to ached terribly in his noble heart. He drew his gladius and took a blocking position between the remaining enemy and the friends… when his loyal priest did the unexpected and unknown.

A final standard-bearer with a wolf-pelt over his armor had survived with the remainder. Marcus snatched the eagle-standard of the XXIII legion from his hand and paused briefly for a single fateful smile at his friends and cried out:

"ROME THE VICTOR!" And he drove it into the ground like he was reclaiming that very place for Rome. Not the Rome that was, but the Rome that General Silva and Marcus believed in. His voice echoes outward across the valley and for a briefest moment the battle stopped. He turned to his friends and looked at them fondly and said:

"… maybe at another time…" And he cried out again "Rome the victor!" and Brian felt new strength well up in him.

A gate of gold started to trace its way between the stones and once open new channels in his mind.

"NOW!" He growled as he stood between two great stones holding a portal open… a portal bought by a friend. Sunbird was shoved through first. He had to be pushed. The boy so wanted to stay with Marcus and fight to the unknown end. Daddy had told his you that you never leave a friend behind… a teammate… and they just did.

Brian held the portal open as long as he could. Tim was the last one through and he almost suffered a heart attack at what he saw on our side of the porta before it closed:

"Marcus… General… Come-on… there's time… RUN! Dammit!" All the boys screamed at different times.

Looking back through he saw the General and Priest while Brian, the Concrete Angel, held the portal open for them through force of his own stone-born will that had found new voice in the horrible echo of war… but the portal started to bend and collapse.

"RUN!" Tim heard at the end….

Then there was only the horrible splash of blood and the shatter of stone when the portal collapsed in the golden echo of an ankh… Brian didn't make it through the portal.

Tim's first reaction was to shriek out like a madman… to deny all of his senses and tell himself that what he knew was not what he knew it to be. Nightwing and Superboy dragged Robin away shrieking and crying for Brian, Marcus, and the general… He had always feared losing a teammate… but in his own mind he had lost three. It was more than he could bear. He gasped like a man suffocating.

"Stay with me, my love" Superboy kept whispering into his ear. Robin was safe in his arms. Only he was able to hold him still that night in the encampment. He4 wouldn't know until later that though only four days had passed in their time that almost a month had passed in their own time. Tim finally woke, dressed, and faced his failure like he always had… face one.

Upon leaving the tent he found himself in he was in a bright open glade, once he took some time to assure his son that he was well and took a moment to talk to Kon.

"I'm sorry Kon. I acted terrible. You'll never see me weep like that again." Red Robin tells his husband.

"Our son?"

"No, my love… if you hadn't I would think that everyone made a terrible decision, and me too. Your humanity honors them. Our son is safe and sound… doing well."

"Didn't I make a bad decision?"

"No… he had a chance… but there is more… it's not over." Superboy tells him as he helps him into his red and black uniform. He is at the threshold of the tent when a pleasant but sepulchral voice greats him.

"So eager to escape young vigilante?" The Lord of Order told him.

"Fate… how did you come here?" Robin asked.

"Did you not see the ankh before you lost consciousness?"

"Yes, but I think that was strain."

"No." He intoned. "There was a confluence of ordered powers at work, greater than you know. You have travelled time, in a definable mean… ordered… which you preserved.

"And Brian?" Robin asked bitterly.

"His might with stone was unparalleled, but cannot breach time. There was no weakness to be found in him." Fate intones.

"Small comfort. So come with me to tell Andy that we go home."

"No."

"NO? You don't give a damn that we lost a friend and brother to… that?" Robin shrieks like a hawk. "You find that acceptable?" and Superboy steps to his side making it damned clear to him how important this is, and that Robin will not be pressed further over the loss of their friend. It was hard enough for them all, but worse for him.

"No… I find it unacceptable that you think this is the end." Fate responds showing epic patience with them both.

"Red Robin?..." a Justice League operative asks as he dives into the tent. "Batman asks for you."

"Excuse me?" Tim asks. Batman never asks, especially during a mission.

"Yes sir, asked that you and your team meet him when you are ready."

"Thank you." Superboy responded and the man in the blue uniform and white armor left as silently as he entered.

XXXXXXXXX

"Son!..." Batman said in uncharacteristic affection. Bruce Wayne was a very loving father, but Batman rarely showed affection to Robin… even if it was his own son. The Dark Knight pulled his son to him and as his arms wrapped around him, so too did his cloak.

"Is there anything to add to Nightwing's report?" Batman asked.

"No. He was present for everything right to the end. So if he was thorough you know what I know."

"Very well. Andy Haynes is here. He will want to speak to you. I think you owe him that." Batman says darkly.

"Of course I do…" Robin says as his voice drifts off thinking about how much he loved those two guys and how much their love meant to a lot of other people. But he steels his shoulders and prepares to tell him like a soldier should. It was ironic, Andy always seemed the playful one when they were kids, but Brian had the power. But it never bothered Andy. It's like he found his power in reaching his full potential as a human and shared that strength with a boy he came to love at the same time he became an accidental meta. Love like that should never have been broken, and yet Brian held the portal open too long… to try and convince other worthy to come through.

"But more… Red Robin…" And when he heard that tome it was serious.

"Yes, Batman." He responded on the same terms.

"Nightwing tells me that when you rescued a soldier he called out "they drink of dark waters."

"True, but I think Dick is holding back something."

"Do you also know he told me that he heard a voice in a recognizable tongue, but not one neither of you knew?"

"Yes Sir…"

"Well, I will tell you something before you go back to your friends and family for a short time that will give you no comfort, but at least let you know you performed magnificently."

"Performed?... Our son!... He almost…"

"Yes son… my grandson, don't you think I don't know my own failure here? Don't you think I don't feel some responsibility for Angel's loss? Leadership is lonely and harsh." Then Batman turned away for a moment; and felt he was getting old… he was starting to feel the burden of responsibility himself.

"…. I'm sorry to intrude Batman, Red Robin…"

"What is it?" The masked vigilante asked the Justice League operative.

"It's enough that the men in his squad drew straws to come tell you." A tall strong woman answered as she forced herself in.

"Diana, I'm not in the mood for another lecture." Batman responds the woman who he knows has his son's respect and might be able to kick his own but.

"So… Just listen…" She says with a smile.

"Sir, we've continued the archaeological dig where your investigation left off." The science nerd said as he stormed in.

"What of it?" Robin asked.

"Well… we found a statue pedestal… a Roman one."

"They didn't have any tall statues there." Robin tells the man.

"Nightwing said the same thing, but Wonder Woman said you would understand this."

"Understand what?" Superboy asked, supporting his husband.

"If you will humor me sir…" and the operative signaled and four means brought in a great stone that was pitted and scarred.

"Its old Roman concrete. They revolutionized you know. But its normally of shape and size to be a statue pedestal."

"What of it sir?"

"If you will see the boot print, it is definitely not Roman, though the stonework is."

Tim and Kon both looked down on the block and saw the same thing. Tim had designed Angel's uniform and knew the tread pattern well. It was Brian's footprint. Beyond all hope, he had passed the battle.

"Now will you listen to the rest son, before you call in everyone and go off half-cocked" Batman asks.

"Yes Sir."

"One… our archaeologists murdered doing a common dig. Two… the Roman soldier talking of tainted waters… Three… Nightwing's recording of the voices which I have translated…"

"With all due respect Batman, you can see the burden Robin has, and you are adding to it without explanation."

"You want it simple then, Conner?"

"Yes sir."

"Evidence points to a secret society that knew enough to find a stone portal to the past, which also control a mystical pit."

"And… "Robin asks.

'It must be the work of Ra's Al' Ghul son. I think you are lucky to be alive. He seemed to be trying to destroy our civilization before it happened. So, yes, you made sacrifices… but see the alternatives.


	5. Chapter 5

Tim and Kon and the team had changed clothes on the long sad flight back from England and tried to get some rest, to no avail. Their hearts and minds still reeled from what they had experienced, and what they had lost. But the screech of the landing gear on the runway settled on them like a heavy weight. They were home and had another more woeful task for four of them.

"Bart… Jamie, take Junior home would you?" Kon asked his friends, seeing the same sadness in their eyes as he felt in his heart.

"Daddy… I liked him too." Young Conner said miserably and blinked back a tear. He wanted to be strong for his fathers, until both Tim and Kon wrapped him in their arms desperately. Their son had been magnificent during the mission and they were immeasurably proud of him. Long moments later they let him go and Bart took him by the hand and led him off to a waiting car when Wally stepped over to Jamie and asked: "Take this to the Mountain please. We need to find a special place for it." And he placed a carefully wrapped box in Jamie's trembling hands. He didn't say a word in return, but the reverence in his glistening dark eyes said everything that needed to be said.

The remaining four: Tim, Kon, Wally, and Dick climbed into another car and Tim silently drove them across Metropolis to Suicide Slums… and the Emporium. As minutes passed the car seemed to move too fast and their hearts grew heavier. These four went for several reasons, the two couples had once rescued two teens from kidnappers, and they had a personal connection to them and felt a personal responsibility. Tim felt it heavier, being the leader of the team, but the other three, Kon especially helped him carry the emotional burden. None of them spoke a word but each couple held hands sharing their strength with each other until they reached their destination… far too soon.

"Hey guys!" Brett cheerfully greeted the four as they entered the Emporium until he noticed Brian missing.

"Brett, we need to talk to Andy. Is he home?" Tim asked softly.

"Nooo… please, dear god… no…" He gasped to himself seeing the dreadful pained looks on his friends' faces and led them back.

Some time later the same four young heroes leave the back loft behind the Emporium where Brian and Andy had made a nice home for themselves. Each of them walked away like old men whose joints were pained with a lifetime's burden. Returning to the car, Kon opened the trunk and easily lifted out a slab of ancient concrete, the kind the Romans once used, and embedded with two distinct boot prints… the statue pedestal that the archaeologists had found. Tim, Dick, and Wally escorted Kon back inside like a solemn honor guard back to the loft. Carrying the burden to the stone seat that Brian had molded up through the floor from the bedrock under Metropolis, Kon set the slab down right where Brian's own feet would have sat. They said their brief goodbyes to Andy and gave him some time and space for himself. As Tim pulled away Kon's superior hearing caught the aching painful cries of Andy's grief.

It was a short drive to the junkyard and the Zeta-beam and the four teleported to Mount Justice and the Team's home away from home. Wally retrieved the box he had left with Jamie and they all gathered to add another souvenir to their collection. _"Souvenir… bah!_ " Wally thought to himself as he shoved their other mementos rudely aside on the long shelf to make room. All the friends and family who had come back from their strange mission in time watched silently as Wally opened the box and reverently lifted out an ancient Roman helmet. Though it had spent seventeen centuries lost in the soil of ancient England and was stained and pitted with rust, it was still painfully magnificent. Wally carefully set the helmet of Marcus, the Roman priest that had become their dear friend, on the mahogany shelf.

The remainder of the day passes as the friends sit around the common room and talk, sometimes shed a few tears, and share memories of their friend. In time Bart and Jamie say goodnight and head of to their room, as do Wally and Dick. Little Conner had fallen asleep on the couch and Tim picked him up and carried him to his old room and tucked him into bed… and headed into the command center of the Mountain.

Kon follows with an insulated pot full of coffee and a couple sandwiches. "Did you get it all?" the stalwart clone asks the young vigilante as he locks the door and Tim pulls a usb drive from his pocket and downloads numerous files.

"Everything I could find. Wonder Woman was prying a lot so it was hard getting some of it without her noticing." Tim responded.

"Or she let you take it."

"Yeah, there's a thought that will rent some space in my head. But dad won't want to start a war with the League of Assassins. But that war is coming. They drew the first blood, and you do not always avoid a war by refusing to fight it… and you damned sure don't do it by leaving anyone behind. You only encourage an enemy when he gets away with it."

"Tim, I agree with you. You are preaching to the choir. I'm the one that supposedly has anger-management issues, right? So, just tell me where we start."

"Well… according to the Perseus Digital Library of Art, Brian's statue was obviously preserved since it was set in that concrete. But it's a crude example of Roman concrete. I think it's probably locals soon after the battle who set it as a memorial but with imperfect methods. But granite wasn't worked into sculpture until the 19th century. It's just too hard and dense without modern tools. But, the weathering on the boot prints compared with the weathering on the pedestal means it was moved around 500 years ago.

"You're doing it the hard way." A quiet and cultured voice stated from behind them as Tim and Kon were startled half to death. The short, dark-haired, lean… and arrogant lad leaned against the conference table in a stance that looked almost lazy except to the trained eye of Red Robin and saw that the youth was coiled like a serpent ready to strike.

"Doing what the hard way Damian?" Tim asks as he taps a button and shuts off the computer monitor.

"You're trying to find your friend, or his monument. I do not know how he could have survived all this time, so let's just say his monument for now. Your assessment of timeline is correct. You are showing amazing deduction Drake."

"Go on…" Tim responds coldly.

"Relax 'brother' I am actually going to help you. I didn't come here to mock you."

"This isn't your fight and I will be bringing on enough of father's anger. Do you want to share in that?"

"This may surprise you to hear me say, but it is my fight." Damian says with more firmness in his voice. "The mission that cost you Brian was a reconnaissance gone awry and not but a day back and already you are planning a rescue or a punishment. My grandfather commands loyalty through fear and conditioning, but the loyalty you show your friends and that they show to you is earned through trust and affection."

"Thank you Dami, but how does that involve you?" Tim asks the new Robin.

"Try standing between two worlds, between the shadow of the Bat and the darkness of the Pit, between an honorable father and a… complicated… grandfather. Would you not wish the opportunity to make your own choices based on your own values? To make a stand for your own purpose?"

"And what purpose is that?"

"To prove to my father, my grandfather, and my adoptive brothers that the Bat's blood runs truer in my veins than the Demon's blood… and to aid in something noble… not to mention poking that old man in the eye." Damian explains plainly.

Throughout the discussion Tim's eyes never left Damian's eyes. They took the measure of one-another as though trying to bore into each other's heart.

"So, do we trust him?" Kon asked trying to break the tension.

"Yes." Tim responded and reached out and grasped Damian's hand in a firm grasp and asked: "Can you at least stop throwing your knife at Bart across the dinner table at Thanksgiving and Christmas?"

That immediately broke the tension and Damian even laughed a bit and nodded in agreement.

"Okay is there any way you can tell me what this statue would look like? I have a suspicion, but I need confirmation." Damian asks and Kon comes to a sudden realization and runs down the hall to the common room and returns with their son's cellphone. Feeling slightly guilty he started scrolling through pictures on the phone. Red Robin and Nightwing had to conserve power on their devices and Sunbird would have done the same and he was never without his phone. He hated snooping, but hope sprang eternal. Most of the pictures were classmates at his new school, more than a few of some unknown handsome little ruffian… obviously a new friend. Near the end were a few pictures that should probably be carefully archived out of public view. It just wouldn't do for these pictures to accidentally get out. The last three… One was Red Robin talking to the Roman general, the second was a good picture of Marcus who he had taken a liking to, and the third… the third!

Kon pulled a sync cable out and connected it to the computer and reactivated the monitor screen. He pulled up the picture and focused in on a single figure at the beginning of the battle against the Damnnoni. I showed Concrete Angel rising into the air over the enemy.

"He chose to appear in Roman armor for the benefit of their morale…" Tim began, not hearing the wide-eyed reaction of Damian "… but when he was communing with the stone the priest fed him more power and his stone turned to white… white granite." Seeing his lost friend's picture brought a pang of loss to him and Kon.

"Yes, I know it…"

"You what!?" Tim asks incredulously.

"It happens to be one of my grandfather's trophies. I recall it from when I was younger. But seeing it again confirms it. As I was told, it was kept in London for many centuries then 400 years ago it was given as a gift to Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud by Queen Elizabeth who was the emissary of Ahmad al-Mansur a sultan of the Saadi Dynasty. After his death the dynasty crumbled, with the help of my grandfather's manipulation. He took the statue for himself due to the unique quality of it. I think he suspects it to be more than a statue. I recall it being quite beautiful."

"He is and his friends and boyfriend want him back." Kon says strongly.

"Then we'll get it, but it may start a small war."

"Betraying friends to avoid a war makes you worthy of losing it and unworthy of the peace that may be gained." Tim says firmly.

"I happen to agree, so we're going to go get it back."

"How?"

"We're going to walk right up to the front door and knock. They happen to know me there." Damian says with the sly, dark smile that makes most people cringe. But it gave Red Robin and Superboy the bright ray of hope they desperately needed.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Tim, Kon and Damian made their plans and arrangements with as little haste as they dared. Tim carefully checked his uniform and equipment as did Damian. On the pretense of needing time away from home Andy spends a few days with Tim and Kon at the penthouse where they can plan their mission. Numerous messages went out, often through the cellphones of young people in Suicide Slums. The nightlife was becoming more vibrant and fun since the area had started to recover and Andy knew a lot of the guys around that part of Metropolis; and had even saved a few of them from the depredations of criminals. A text message here, anonymous e-mail there… no pattern or known sender to follow, but the recipients were tried and true and trusted.

"Are you sure he's up for this?" Damian asked his adopted brother a few days before they were to set off… and decided to not ask any further when he saw the piercing glares of both Tim and Kon. Andy was in the living room giving his pistols a final cleaning, checking the types of ammunition he had loaded and applying a silicone coating to the slides of his weapons so he could silently load them and chamber a round.

"Is he up for this?" Kon asked softly but incredulously. "Have you ever lost someone you loved with all your being, feeling helpless to save him, willing to take that fate on yourself if only it would give you your loved one back his life? And then… finally a sliver of hope; and the chance to act on that hope? Yeah Damian, he is up for it and Rao help whoever gets in his way." As he spoke, Kon's eyes misted up and he looked away slightly remembering almost losing Tim in one of their earliest missions before he had the chance to tell him how he felt about him. Tim leaned over and put a loving arm around him and they shared a moment's reflection of what life had given them and their ability to give the same chance to someone else.

"I understand." Damian said simply and looked away both to give them their moment, and thinking of someone else who's own pains he might have wished to erase, if it were not for the fact that his old pain was his only source of strength.

The next morning was a humorous attempt to divert young Connor's attention from what was really going on. It couldn't be completely successful of course. He was so much like his parent's, which was to be expected.

"So, did you get you bag packed?" Tim asked his handsome and energetic son.

"Yeah, but what's the big surprise you keep hinting at dad?"

"You'll see." Kon answered for him. They both knew what would easily keep him occupied for a good long while. And as good timing would have it, the bell from the private elevator rang and Calvin and his father enter the penthouse. Calvin was a bundle of excitement as he usually was, and his father Keith was in equally good humor. The fanboy practically dove on Connor since they didn't see each other as much as they used to but they were always the best of friends. Keith accepted the cup of coffee that Kon brought and gave both he and Tim a serious look and quietly asked:

"You guys will be careful, won't you?"

"Of course. We have a bit of unexpected help… very good help." Tim answers as Damian peers intensely over the edge of his newspaper and then returns to his article and coffee.

"Good, but I'm going to worry anyway. But things are not the same around town with Brian gone. Go find him and get him and Andy, and yourselves back safely. I can't say I know, much less understand, everything that going on but all the kids you guys rescued have done well and those boys have helped a lot of them since. It matters, not just to Andy, but to a lot of people." Keith said in uncharacteristic emotion.

"We know and we haven't left anyone behind before, we're not about to start now." Kon said, speaking for both of them.

Keith turned and called toward the living room: "Connor, you about ready to go?"

"Yeah, but where are we going? Daddies said it was a surprise." It was cute the way he acted sometimes. He looked and fought like a 16-year-old, but could revert right to twelve when excited.

"Well… if they said it was a surprise…"

"Go ahead and tell him before he spontaneously combusts or something." Tim says with a laugh that isn't the least bit contrived.

"Your dads thought you might like to go on a road trip with Calvin and me to Central City and go to the Flash Splash Water Park, the Flash museum, and…"

The young clone of Tim and Kon's eyes light up and he got that oddly compelling adorable look that frequently got him what he wanted if you hadn't been warned. "And…?" He asked excitedly.

"And, maybe… a certain guy named 'Flash' might take you two for a tour of STAR Labs and show you around town."

The echoing shrieks of both boys told that even Calvin didn't know that part of the trip until that moment. They all excitedly hug on their dads then Connor grabs up his backpack as Keith takes his suitcase to carry down to his truck. Before he heads out the door to follow the boys down he takes another look back and tells his friends earnestly:

"You brought my son back to me and gave us another chance. You better come back safe. I'd hate to have to go looking for you two and bring you back to your son."

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

A few hours later, four young heroes drive to Metropolis' smaller regional airport where a business jet owned by Drake Pharmaceuticals is waiting on them, it turbine engines already running. They each carry their bags in with them rather than stowing them in the luggage hold. Taking their seats Robert Trimble walks out of the cockpit closing the door behind him and takes the few steps to Tim's seat and tells his friend and boss:

"Tim, I made the arrangements you asked for. Landing rights have been secured, quietly, at different point along your route. Your pilot has the coordinates for each refueling stop and has contacts that will keep him informed and customs inspectors out of the way. As you asked, the last leg of your trip will be overland but you want to avoid being seen. I've contacted some old and highly trusted Gurkha friends, not many I'm afraid, that will get you two within two days' hike of the coordinates you gave me. They're trustworthy. I imagine Mr. Pennyworth has known some of these men in his youth."

"Thank you Robert. Very well done. So now will I assume you switched my usual pilot? He usually flies like a poet. I've never had a bad flight with him on the controls, but I wouldn't assume he has contacts anywhere except on a golf course." Tim asks conspiratorially.

"True enough." Robert answers with a laugh. "He's the pilot we had when we dropped into that hot LZ in Bialya. So, he only knows he's flying Alvin Draper on a plane borrowed from Drake Pharmaceuticals."

"Glover? Yeah, he's connected like AT&T. That's good news."

"Alright. Get going before I try to change your mind again. I'll keep an eye out here like you asked." Robert Trimble said and then shook his boss's hand as well as Kon's. As he left the plane he told Tim "I looked up those coordinates… be careful. I don't want a repeat of Bialya."

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Fortunately, there were no incidents en-route to the Himalayan foothills. True to their reputation, two Gurkha guides stoically lead the foursome to their last stop before the final ascent over the Himalayan pass… and Damian's birthplace and their goal. The Gurkhas said little and has a demeanor as fierce that their trademark bent knives. They practically laughed at any hardship but were generous with their own aid. Kon was immune to the challenge and Tim was conditioned to the strain and struggle, but Andy had never left the familiar streets and alleys of Metropolis and the long overland trek was more than a challenge for him. Yet the fierce but small Himalayan warriors did not see him as a weakling. The ease with which he carried his pistols on tactical holsters on his thighs and the telltale callouses on his forefingers from much use of those pistols told them that he was indeed not a weakling, He was simply entirely outside his element.

On that last night the four young heroes made camp and cooked a simple meal of rice and stewed meat from the dried provisions they had brought and served their guides as a simple but heartfelt means of thanking them. The Tim explained what he knew of them.

"Sincerity is the best compliment to them. They are a happy people but fierce in battle and claim to be descended from a warrior-saint of their people. Alfred told me something that was once said about them: 'If a man says he is not afraid of dying, he is either lying or is a Gurkha.' Their name is even derived of an ancient word that means 'protector' in their language. Even if they don't know why we are here, I am willing to bet they would they would approve or even help us if we let them."

"Sounds like you have a lot of respect for them." Andy said.

"And well he should… all of us." Damian answered. "The closer we come to Nanda Parbat the closer we come to the no man's land that separates it from the outside world. No place is denied to my grandfather's league, but they do not give offense to the Gurkha at their borders. It is like the Rhelasian border, but without landmines. They are warriors without equal and yet he has not been able to recruit a single one and they have been killed only at great cost. Bandits attacked a train one of them was on. Just one, armed only with that knife you see them carrying. He killed eight of them, and wounded thirteen more and drove the rest away… just with that knife."

"Holy shit." Andy whispered to himself, suddenly feeling very inadequate… until he recalled why he was here.

They banked their fires and bedded down under the open sky, each with their own thoughts. Andy willed himself to courage. Not that he lacked it, but he was in an unknown land known only to the one among them that he did not know, much less trust. But Tim trusted him and he had to be satisfied with that. Kon himself worried that all they would indeed finally get was a statue and that even the arts of Fate and Zatanna could not alter the fact. Tim almost looked forward to the trials as an expiation of losing a friend and teammate. Damian… he wanted to see what had become of himself and the place he had known as a child, and show what he had become. He was after a repudiation of his childhood.

The following morning, they woke to a crisp and chilly air and they felt the rarified air of the high Himalayas call to them, and the narrow pass beckoning to them. their Gurkha guides gathered their sparse equipment and said their goodbyes. The more senior of the two pulled from his belt one of the two signature kukri knives they carried and ceremoniously offered it to Andy. He haltingly accepted the gift having observed that the large bent-blade knives were sacred to these men. He respectfully tucked the sheathed knife into his belt and returned their salute awkwardly but sincerely. Somehow they had come to know that Andy had the most at stake in this mission.

Once the two Himalayan warriors and their pack animals were well down the road and out of sight, Tim told his three companions and teammates: "Well, time to get changed and get started. We have a timetable to keep."

Except for Kon, they each opened their sealed cases that they had brought with them all the way from Metropolis and proceeded to change their clothes and ready their gear. Kon dug out a hollow pit in the bedrock with his bare hands and buried their now-empty cases. Red Robin now shifted his shoulders to adjust his wing-like cape and small rocket pack that he had yet to try and Robin slid his katanas into their scabbards on his back and pulled the hood of his own cape over his head. Superboy had changed into his red and black suit, but needed no tools for his trade. His strength and almost invulnerability along with the genetic gifts of Krypton were all he required.

Andy had slipped away around a rock formation to change without being seen. Not that he was body-shy, but he did feel a little self-conscious about stepping into a newer role among these heroic friends who not that long ago had saved his own life. It was one thing to patrol the few streets and alleys of Suicide Slum, but another to travel to the other side of the world on a very personal mission; and such a mission required a new uniform. He'd heard it said in a movie "If you are going to war you need a uniform." It had made some philosophical sense to him. He came back around with his travelling clothes stowed in the pack and the other three guys' jaws dropped. He now wore a black jerkin with dark purple straps over a tight insulated top also in black. His insulated black tights were decorated only with his drop-leg tactical holsters, also in the same dark purple as his jerkin straps. A matching belt with multiple ammunition pouches wrapped snugly around his small waist. As a final check he cinched the straps around his calf-high boots and pulled on his soft leather gloves with the trigger fingers exposed. He was already a pretty good-looking guy, but the belt and holsters strapped to his thighs seemed to accentuate his thin attractive body. Damian seemed to notice a little more, of course, that the uniform certainly make his bits look more obvious; and he more obviously looked. Andy blushed slightly seeing the guys' reaction, but also saw their approval. The fact that it looked so damned good was purely accidental, or a result of it being so practical. But the purple accents were the same shade of Brian's purple uniform. He put his purple mask over his eyes and tightened the strap around his head when Red Robin came over and gently pulled it off of him. Before he could protest Red had already deftly cut the straps off with the edge of a birdarangs and pulled a small vial of spirit gum adhesive from his utility belt and started to adhere the mask to Andy's face.

"This will keep it snug on your face without the straps causing you a headache or the mask slipping. Both those distractions could ruin your aim."

It wasn't said in a demeaning way at all. It was a last piece of advice before they set off, and they were all proud of him, even Damian if you could get him to admit it. Without another look behind them, they set off northward to the high pass with the sun continuing to rise on their endeavor.

 **XXXXXXXXX**

Hours later found the four young heroes past the Parbati Pass into the land of Damian's grandfather. Andy alone of them felt the strain of the journey. His feet were tortuously sore from the exertion that was so different from his time in Metropolis. Yet, nothing would have convinced him to abandon this mission. He would have sooner abandoned his own flesh and blood. The sun was soon setting and they halted to gather their strength and courage. Yet, finally through the fog the guys were able to find the great structure that might have been hidden from weaker minds. They approached the front massive gates and Tim gave Damian a look that said: "Go for it"

Damian rapped on the door and demanded entry and that certain expectations be met. It was a dangerous ploy, but he had the strength and courage to see it through.

"Is the hospitality of my grandfather's house so diminished that even I receive no welcome?" Damian asked aloud to the ears that were listening beyond the gates; and pushed the door open which was oddly unlocked and unattended.

The four boys walked slowly in… taking care to make no sound or footfall. Tim's head was practically on a swivel as they crossed the empty courtyard, checking every corner and passage with his demanding eyes, but he didn't expect any attack just yet. They made their way to the far end of the courtyard of the great edifice of a house that defied definition. It had the look of the ancient potala temple of the high Himalayas, but nonetheless included many feature of architecture of the old cities of the Arabian deserts. Masterfully crafted stonework met beautifully wrought woodwork, a sign of great wealth and power in this high mountainous retreat far above any forest. Damian, Tim's complicated and sometimes irksome adopted brother, grabbed the great brass knocker on the door of the main hall and struck it three times.

"Are you sure we need to come right in through the front door?" Conner asked.

"Sure? No… but they would know we were here anyway and the grandson of the owner of this house would not be expected to come in like a thief in the night." Damian answered his Kryptonian brother-in-law.

"You're doing fine." Tim answered his little brother, feeling the fear well up in the lad, and himself as well, and he reached over and patted his shoulder. As the echo of the third knock on the door faded away the oaken door slowly drifted silently open. The four lads stepped inward slowly letting their eyes adjust to the dark interior of the hall only to find a group of masked men waiting for them, and a giant of a man standing behind them. Damian swallowed down his concern and strode forward in false confidence and said to the group:

"I require the hospitality of this house. Prepare my rooms and rooms for my guests."

The haughty arrogance of Damian's command was belied by the concern Tim and Kon saw in his eyes. Andy was well over his head and knew it. He only knew that his lover was somewhere in this place and wanted to get to him, but had to trust to his young friend's ploy.

"And who are you to demand the hospitality of this house?" One of the men asked.

Damian took two steps forward and pulled his hood back revealing his black hair and dark eyes.

"I am Ibn al Xu'ffasch and you know me. The sun sets and it will be a cold dark place tonight. I will have the welcome of this house and tell my grandfather that I am home. Bring water for my companions and set a table for us." He said ceremoniously.

He saw the men tense of at the statement of the name. It was a very bold ploy dripping with truth and honesty. In a single phrase Damian declared himself openly. In the ancient language of his grandfather he had called himself the "Son of the Bat."

The apparent leader of the men whispered a few commands to the giant man behind him and he strode off and then ushered the three boys inward to a brighter lit hall where water was brought in great brass basins and they followed Damian's lead and cleaned the dust of the road from their hands and faces, but never removing their masks.

Tim noted that Damian's right hand was ever loose and free to take up one of the short swords strapped to his back. He had heard of the boy's skill with them when he had helped his father Batman clear the city of Gotham of the drones from Warworld months before. He was sure they would need that skill before the night was over.

"Your coming is complicated, young sir." The leader of the group said to Damian.

"I'm sure it is but this was my home and it continues to be my grandfather's house. I will speak with him and we will be on our way." Damian answered. Andy started to object about being on their way but Superboy grabbed his hand and nudged him to be silent for the moment.

"The master of the house is… away." The dark assassin tells Damian.

"Then tell my mother that I have come."

"She also is away."

"Very well… until the return of either of them I command this house. I have asked for rooms to be prepared and a table set for our guests. Is this being done?"

"Yes… sir…" The man responded darkly with a squint in his eye. Being commanded by a teenager who had turned his back on the League was clearly irksome to him.

"I know you well, Wahid Khabith; and your actions will be known."

"I am certain of that…"sir." The assassin said darkly as a great platter of meat and rice was brought and set on the table beyond them. Andy was about to protest the waste of time but Kon whispered in his ear to encourage patience. Damian knew what he was doing, they all hoped. The boys all sat and proceeded to eat, more out of forced politeness than hunger. A large silver pitcher was brought around and their cups were filled. Andy was about to drink from his when Damian reached over and pulled his cup out of his hand and gave him his own and softly said:

"They wouldn't dare hurt me, but I do not trust your cup. They drink from the same pitcher… if there is poison it is in the cup."

Andy had known of him and his reputation for being a dark and bitter asshole, but this concern for him and the mission gave him new insight into the young man. He might be an arrogant little shit, but it was clear now that there was no question that he was in for the mission 100% percent, and the mission was only to get Brian back. Andy suddenly realized that he loved the guy as a friend, especially since he had more at stake personally. And, Andy let himself realize, the guy was really pretty cute.

As dinner wore on for some time, the erstwhile leader among the League of Assassins was becoming more and more irritated. Apparently the poisoned cups were exactly what he had planned on. Damian rose out of his chair and started giving commands to the foot soldiers around them.

"Secure the gates to this house and double the guard. The night is bright and clear and the Gurkha are not far off. My friends and I will retire to my rooms. Come for me if there are any issues."

The common soldiers, skilled and deadly and loyal to Ra's al Ghul jump to Damian's orders, much to the irritation of Khabith. The four boys get up from their meal, well fed but not overdone to the point of sleepy. They follow Damian to his rooms down passages that only he among them knew. As they left the hall, Khabith looked over his shoulder at the young Robin and said:

"He always was a bit fey, and now he takes three boys to his chambers… his decadence reveals itself."

 **XXXXXXXXX**

"Alright…" Damian says once the door closes behind them in his old bedchamber. "That asshole will have all of the league looking over our shoulders. Most of them won't want to attack me or you guys out of loyalty to my grandfather, but he will have a good number who will do his bidding, and I do not know which side everyone is on."

"Would it matter?" Tim asks as he pulls off his dark red parka and straps his wing-cape and small rocket pack on his back.

"Yes… my grandfather would never breach the ancient law of hospitality like that shit did trying to poison Andy. I don't know that for sure, but he was pretty pissed when I gave him my cup to drink from."

"Okay kid… what's our next move?" Superboy asks the young Robin.

He rankled slightly at being called 'kid' but he knew Superboy didn't mean ill by it. "There's no question that there are guards at the door to this room right now."

"So, we fight our way out or you have another plan." Red Robin asked as Andy carefully checked his pistols in his hip holsters.

"I spent my earliest years here. It used to be a game between mother and I that I could find here without my protectors knowing I had left the room…" and he walks over to the fireplace and pulls at the torch sconce on the wall. Expecting the fireplace to move, the guys were surprised when a stone panel moved back on the far wall revealing a very narrow but navigable passage.

"I used to love seeing grandfather's collection of trophies and art. Your Brian was there last time I saw it." He says to the young thin black and purple clad hero. "Believe me when I tell you that I didn't know who or what it was then."

The young man walks over to Damian and looks him dead in the eye, something too many people didn't do. "Dami… even if we don't pull this off, I appreciate what you have done for me and Brian. Thank you."

"I have my own reasons." Damian says while thinking to himself about Colin and how he had never had someone to protect him or care about him when he needed it most. "But you are welcome. Let's just hope your bird-friend has the rest of his plan together."

The boys file into the hidden passage within the walls of Nanda Parbat and snake their way behind Damian to the trophy chamber of Ra's Al Ghul. Damian reaches for the exit wall to push it open when Red Robin holds him back and pulls a thin sheet of shiny silicone from his belt and slides it in the gap in the wall to try to get an angled reflection from the trophy room… but to no avail. They all take a deep breath and push open the door and enter the room… filled with some of the most magnificent works of art from fifteen centuries of history.

All eyes are drawn to the wealth of art and culture throughout the room, but Conner noticed at the far end of the chamber a magnificently bright gateway of blue tile of a type that had not been seen in eons.

"Uh… Dami… I thought that was in the Berlin Museum. Isn't that the Babylonian gate?"

"Yeah Kent… that's a copy. Even they don't know it." Damian answered… until a hear-rending cry called their eyes to another work of art and broke their hearts immeasurably.

Andy's cry was like the painful call of a hawk that saw its mate fall from the sky with an arrow in its wing… it was painful and epic… The high-pitched boyish voice that was more used to telling naughty jokes or whispering sweets things to his lover now cried out in an anguish so pure that the other boys almost felt themselves honored to witness his grief. Only Red Robin's stoic nature kept him from crying out, but the tears in his eyes sold him out. Kon saw the same piece of art and in a choked growl said to himself… "By Rao… Brian…"

Within the gate was Brian's statue as Tim and Kon last saw him… with his hands stretched out to each side of him holding as when he held the portal of time open between the stones of the circle in England sixteen hundred years ago, but now he was an edifice of pure white granite, indomitable and eternal, with his hands reaching out to each side of the ancient Babylonian gate that surrounded him.

"He's a bit high-strung, isn't he?" the assassin lieutenant said as he stepped out of the shadows of the far wall, but not soon enough to keep Andy from rushing to the eternal form of his lover in his final moment of life. Still in his assumed formed in Roman armor, the crest of his helmet stood tall in stone like the mane of a charging horse and even the ripple of the muscles of his long exposed legs were a study of beauty and movement.

"Watch the shadows." Damian told his friends.

"Which ones?" Superboy asked.

"All of them." He responded savagely.

Just then, the shadows took form as numerous assassins came in to the light and closed in on the young heroes. Damian reached to his back and drew both his swords as he heard the metallic rasp of Red Robin's staff snapping to full length. Kon rushed to Andy's side to protect him from the coming fight.

"I know Andy… I know…" Kon said choking back his own tears. "But now is the time to avenge him. I know the love you feel. If it had been Tim…" he said and left the statement unfinished. Then turned his back to Andy to both give him his moment with Brian's statue and also to protect him. The sly lieutenant made a gesture and the assassins in the room, of which there were a great number, ran in to the attack.

Robin and Red Robin dove into the largest number as swords and staff went to work. Fortunately for them, the League of Assassins preferred the ancient weapons and the two lads had the skills to combat them. At the rear of the fight, the lieutenant had summoned the giant man once again, and Damian instantly recognized him for who he was.

"Damn, he's using that fool. It will be the death of him," Then saw him slide a hypodermic needle into his flesh and push the plunger to the end.

"Superboy… get Ubu… you're the only one that can!" the young Robin called out seeing the Venom go to work in the fiercely loyal lackey of Ra's. But by rushing to take on the new threat he left Andy exposed. The boy just managed to duck under a swung sword and saw it strike the granite arm of his long still lover. Something changed in the boy at that moment… something terrible. He spun in place fluidly while snatching his pistols from his hips and drove the barrel of the gun in his right hand into the solar plexus of the man who struck Brian. The assassin gasped for breath and while his pistol dove into him, he pulled the trigger and took even his last breath of life away as the single bullet ripped upward through all his internal organs.

Andy was suddenly a storm of movement and gunfire. He spun in a circle with his pistols leading. When he struck one, pistol-whipping him, his other hand was firing taking down another enemy. His tight uniform rippled beautifully as he finally found his center, his focus, and became something he had never know he could be. He was the finest demonstration of gun-kata that the other boys knew possible. But what he didn't know was that the sword struck Brian's statue and scratched it slightly… leaving a small trail of blood.

"Get to Brian!" Red Robin called out seeing it while Superboy advance toward the powerfully strong and now envenomed Ubu. Superboy saw his muscles and height increase as the Venom went to work on the simple fool.

"Now I can FIGHT!" Superboy thought to himself. Being so strong and invulnerable he had always held back… a lot. Only twice before could he fight to his full capacity: once in Warworld, and then when he fought Bane. But he always felt like he lived in world of cardboard and didn't dare fill his potential… he did now. He ran towards the assassin and gripped his hands together and struck him fully in a hammer punch to the face, dropping him like a rock… for only a moment.

Their fighting styles being fluid and moving, Red Robin and Robin actually let themselves get surrounded and there they dealt pain to their enemies until Damian drove both his swords into the shoulders of once of the assassins and kicked the man in the chest to push him off his blades. But there were simply too many of them, which they immediately recognized.

The second cry of the night was far different from the first:

"TITANS… NOW!" Tim called out and heard his cry answered in an old but familiar connection in his mind.

At that moment a high window shattered and the lieutenant approaching with his scimitar in hand stopped cold with a red-fletched arrow sticking out of his throat. His last command to his men was only a blood-choked blubber.

Beyond the walls of Nanda Parbat Red Robin heard all those secretive messages before they set out pay off. Nightwing ran about the outer galleries like an Angel of War breaking every man he met, while his lover, Kid Flash, and Impulse scoured the outer perimeter for enemies. The courtyard was starting to fill with enemy troops and Impulse began a circuit around them running faster and faster as his Speedforce built up in power. The Speedforce built up in his hands and he lashed out with it at the assassins as he gathered the power in his hands, dropping them like a 10 million volt Taser. 16 centuries of time had brought them to this place and the boy who could surpass time fought like a happy warrior as he saw his own boyfriend, Blue Beetle, in the sky raining damage on their enemies.

"Kon!... help Andy!" Tim cried out as he saw an assassin run to the pistol-wielding lad, but Kon was fully engaged fighting the envenomed behemoth that was Ra's al Ghul's personal protector. But he saw from the corner of his eye the assassin running to Andy with his sword in hand. Tactics and self-control disappeared as he looked up to the roof and blasted the roof open with his eyes and dropped a load of stone on the thug while Andy continued to both pistol-ship and shoot their enemies while he wept over his lost love… but there were simply too many enemies and he had the limitation of ammunition.

He backed little by little, making the assassins pay for every step until he was at Brian's side. But the roof was now open to the sky in the high altitude of the Himalayas and the starlight and bright sun of the dawn beamed down through the broken roof while arrows continued to fly inward through shattered windows, both read and green. But the bright pure light descended on the beautiful young man in stone and Andy lost his momentum of battle and rushed to his side… he was surrounded and doomed, but he would meet it at his boyfriend's side and meet him on the other side of life… He wrapped his arms around the cold stone… that became less cold as second by second ticked away. He fired his last bullet and turned back to his love and his tears dripped onto Brian's stone shoulder as Andy wept for the life that they had and what might have been. His tears flowed off the shoulder of the indomitable statue and mingled with the blood of the scratch that no one had noticed… Andy wept openly waiting for the end but comforted to meet it with his love. But the drop of tear met the blood of the scratch as the rising sun beamed in through the broken ceiling.

Andy held on to Brian desperately and deeply and almost lost notice that the stone form became softer as his tears ended and he took strength in their final moment. The rising sun shone down on the two lovers and it warmed Andy's heart and he closed his eyes and laid his head on Brian's shoulder… a shoulder no soft and fragrant of the beautiful young man he had once been… and was now again.

As the battle came closer and closer, and more desperate, other heroes made their way in having fought their way through numerous enemies. Kid Flash and Impulse spread chaos and damage through the ranks of the League of Assassins while Nightwing made his way to Red Robin's side. Artemis has found a perch on a high gallery and Arsenal dove past Red Robin firing two arrows then swinging his bow like a short staff.

"So… We did it, didn't we?" Nightwing asked sadly.

"Yeah… we did." Red Robin answers his brother. "We still never left anyone behind."

"I love you brother, you know that right?"

"I love you too, Dick." They said to each other as the quiet soft tears of Andy continued to foo9w onto Brian's statue… until they became desperate sobs of a hope undreamed of. His eyes were closed and he felt rather than saw the thin but strong arms that were so familiar to him… as they wrapped around his shoulders. The white granite faded away and a young man in his mottles purple and black uniform stood holding his boyfriend. For all the comfort he found in Brian's arms at that moment, the fight was still very desperate and Andy reached to his belt and pulled out the last magazine for his pistol. He reloaded and stood before Brian ready to sell his life dearly to protect Brian, and the friends that had come to bring him back. But as he regained his human form and awoke for sixteen centuries of slumber and silent he saw the desperation of his friends and lover.

"Stop!" He cried out and with a thought Ubu, Ra's a; Ghul's personal protector, was encased to his knees in stone, the very bedrock of the Himalayas brought up from the deeps. He strode across the hall like an apotheosis and ended the battles in every corner. The running blasts of Blue Beetle's sonic weapons still echoed from outside, but it was a battle now already won. Victory had been snatched from the jaws of defeat.

From the gaping hole in the roof of Ra's al Ghul's trophy chamber several lines descended which the non-meta heroes quickly grasped and Superboy quickly picked up the now exhausted Brian and widened the hole as he flew upward carrying away their friend to the Martian bioship above. By either flight or rope they gathered in the ship and sped swiftly off to the team's home in Mount Justice.

Kon had laid Brian out on a bunk in the back of the ship and after checking him for injuries grudgingly left to give him time alone with Andy… but moments later a very weary young lad staggered back to the cockpit.

"You guys did this for me?" Brian asked.

"Brian, I thought you know what you mean to all of us. We never leave a friend behind." Tim told the boy that he had long ago accidentally helped become a meta-hero.

"But this will start a war, Tim."

"Anyone that tries to avoid war by abandoning friends and allies deserves the war."

"Thank you my friend." And Brian gives the young urban ninja a long hug until Andy helps him upright and leads him to the back of the ship and the bunk to rest.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Though Brian and Andy weren't members of the team, they put them up in rooms in the mountain so they could rest, and even invited a few people to spend time with them. A couple had to be blind-folded of course. Con Junior led in Calvin and his dad Keith and helped them off with their blindfolds so they could see Brian, who was recovering fast and resting in the common room with Andy. The two younger boys had a wonderful time in Central City but coming home to see Brian was even better. Junior practically crawled in his lap while laughing and hugging on the Concrete Angel. Brett had closed the Emporium for the night and had come in too… Brian and Andy had been so important to him for so long. He stood aside and just watched the joy and laughter of friends reunited until Andy dragged him over and he sat with them and got to realize that this was a new day to regain one who was lost and be able to treat each day as a gift without regrets.


	6. Chapter 6

"I can walk Kon… you don't need to carry me." Brian quietly bitched as Superboy carried the recently rescued Concrete Angel from the Martian bioship to the Mountain's infirmary. Andy was only one step away with a look on his face that made it clear if the Kryptonian clone set Brian down to walk on his own he would get an earful from the surprisingly courageous little guy. It was terribly sweet and maybe a bit comical, but Kon held on for dear life to Brian in spite of his gripes. He saw how Andy wielded his automatic pistols with speed and deadly accuracy and he wasn't going to gamble on whether or not the guy had a kryptonite round or two to motivate him. But that was all ironic humor going through his head. They were all the dearest of friends and the rescue of Brian was proof of that, and Kon held on to Brian like he had just helped rescue a long lost friend… which he had.

"New members of the Team?" Red Tornado asked as Superboy gently laid the black and purple clothed lad on the examination table.

"Not unless they change their mind." Red Robin answered as he heard the table groan heavily under the weight of the recovering hero. "But this is a special case. He seems to have become… denser… during his "hibernation." And hands a small thumb drive to the sentient android with their mission file, which he immediately accesses and integrates into his knowledge base.

"Yes, denser indeed. A quality that seems to become less rare among this team."

"Did he make a joke?" Kid Flash asks with surprise.

"I have been studying situational humor in order to better communicate with varying personality types. It seems to work among yourselves and is an aspect of human understanding I wish to expand."

"Great, give the guy credit for a joke, and he kills it." Wally mumbled.

Meanwhile the android that had served as chaperone for the Team in their younger days while exploring his own quest for humanity examines Concrete Angel with several different sensors to determine his health status, given his sixteen centuries of stone-encased hibernation.

"He is denser indeed, but it is fluctuating. Very soon he should be able to control his weight and mass to move between that of a young human of slender proportions, or equal proportion of a dense stone."

"So Andy, that means you'll be on top for a while." Kid Flash blurts out before Nightwing gets the chance to smack him on the back of the head for his crassness. But he gets the smack anyway.

"God… Wally… really?" Andy says over his shoulder.

"Sorry dude."

But Nightwing's smack was only a prelude. It was no secret that Wally would crack jokes when matters were dire. It was his own psychological defense mechanism. But now he cracked a joke unnecessarily and it was funny… though he was still in his stealth suit and Nightwing's eyes ran down his boyfriend's tight and slender body. It wasn't that long ago that Nightwing would have viciously denied loving another boy… but after accepting Tim and Kon's love, he remembered to accept his own… and Wally dove right in. Yet what seemed like a chaste or brotherly hug was diminished by Richard Grayson's hand reaching down and grabbing Wally's tight little butt. The black and dusky stealthsuit only accentuated Wally's lean and long lines and even Tim would give him full credit to his long time friend's attractiveness.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"Thanks for calling me. How are they doing?" Brett asked as Tim trudged into the kitchen. He'd just got Brian and Andy settled into a guest room for the night. A long natural sleep seemed like what they both needed. Kon had called Brett the moment they landed and he was one of the few non-members who had access to the Mountain from the zeta beam in Suicide Slum.

"They'll be fine. Brian has to adjust to some new aspects of his power and learn to control it, but he's more comfortable with it than I would expect. Andy was a surprise to him, and to us. His focus and passion, basically his deadly accuracy, really helped make it possible. I hope it doesn't darken his heart. He's just such a great guy."

"Well, being kidnapped and almost rented out into sexual slavery didn't. But if what Kon said he did is true he won't ever feel like he has to live in the shadow of his boyfriend or you guys." Brett responded thoughtfully.

"Are you all forgetting something?" Damian asks darkly from across the room.

"No, Dami… I haven't" Tim responds softly.

"My grandfather will not forget the insult to him and his home. Kon and Brian wounded Ubu, his most loyal retainer. His house is badly damaged; and one of his most prized possessions has been taken from him."

"No, dammit!" Tim yells slamming his hand on the kitchen island. "That guy, what was his name, Wahid Khabith, broke the old laws of hospitality that were sacred to your ancestors. He injected Ubu with venom to fight Kon, which I think your grandfather will not approve of. And, most importantly, Brian was no 'prized possession' for him to keep."

"Calm down Drake. I happen to agree with you on all points. But Khabith was working behind his back and he will have to show some strength or reason to regain his sense of honor, such as it is. Grandfather might thank us, or attack us all."

"We need to fill dad in." Tim said with resignation as Kon swallowed heavily.

"I don't doubt for a second he already knows; and you know that too. You work with him more than I do lately, and you give him your unique perspective... But since we got away with it, he probably approved of the mission."

Wait… was that a sign of respect from the little demon? Damian had certainly earned Tim's respect in the last week.

"Fine, it's done. We should have no regrets and Ra's al' Ghul will need time to get sorted out before he comes after us if he decides to." Superboy interjects. "He wasn't even there so when he does return there he'll need to assess the situation. It gives us time to plan." Superboy explains calmly.

"Plan for what?" Tim and Damian ask at almost the same time.

"A party, of course."

"What?" The looks around the room gave voice to the unasked word.

"Listen guys… We've been involved in things that have trashed several sections of Metropolis. Sure, defeating Warworld and rescuing the kids made up for it some, not to mention finding the tainted medicines at the hospital. That led to rooting out Scarecrow from Gotham, but that doesn't have much impact to the people in Metropolis. If they see us in uniform on the street, they wonder what's going to happen to them or their city next. We need to give them something to celebrate, something fun. And if we have to deal with the League of Assassins there, the people will have hope that their city is still getting better in spite of it. We don't have to be harbingers of doom all the time."

"Works for me. Clone… remind me to never think of you as stupid again." Damian says and bows politely.

Tim and Kon both took the statement for the profound compliment that it was.

"So, what's your idea?" Kid Flash asked, loving any party or spectacle he could get in the middle of.

"Well… Tim… you and your step-dad have the final signing of the company merger coming up which is making your foreign stock-holders nervous… let's give them a show.

"You're damned right." Tim said in that look that said he was going to be complicated. But all the while, Dick and Wally were in the corner whispering to each other with their hand wandering to various places. Not groping each other, but a touch here and a caress there…

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"Do you think Brian will be okay?" Nightwing asked as he peeled of his skintight unitard in the room he shared with Kid Flash at Mount Justice.

"I think so…" Wally responded. "It must be hell for him and Brian but they already seem to be adapting. And it won't take long for Brian to adapt. He's a tough guy, and so is Andy."

"True, but enough about them. You were awesome last night. Its the second time we came to Andy's aid."

"Yeah, but he wasn't a victim this time, something the Assassins couldn't expect."

"But it's you I'm thinking about." Nightwing responded softly as his eyes ran down the length of Kid Flash's body, encased in the black rubbery stealth uniform that left little to imagination. In fact… it left nothing to pressed the lightning-bolt logo on his chest and changed his uniform back to the yellow and red, but Dick whispered to him "I like the black…" and they strode off to their shared room in Mount Justice to reaffirm their love to one another.

Dick was a little self-conscious in his skintight Nightwing uniform, even though he looked magnificent in it, but Wally had no such body consciousness. He watched while his older boyfriend peeled off the black and blue bodysuit and then stopped Wally from pulling off his own.

"No, I just want to see you this way for a moment." It was clear that Nightwing liked what he saw as he stood there raging hard, and Wally stiffened up in seeing his older fit hero-boyfriend excited at seeing him like this. Dick reached his arms around him liked a hug, but didn't embrace him. He found the hidden zipper tab and pulled all the way down his back and the skintight uniform loosened on him. He reached behind Wally like a hug and grabbed the shoulders of his uniform and pulled the black uniform down as he moved down to his knees.

The stealth suit dropped like a puddle at his feet and Nightwing saw Kid Flash's stiffness spring out of his uniform like a surprise.

Dick took a long look at the meaty shaft, admiring it as his foreskin pulled back while his shaft grew. The older vigilante's mouth watered for a second before he leaned down and swallowed Wally's hard cock in his mouth.

For a guy who had only recently come out of the closet, he figured things out pretty fast. "Oh god Richard!..." Wally moaned.

But Nightwing was only getting started. While he sucked on Wally's cock he reached a hand behind him the speedster and pushed a finger into his tight little pucker and worked it around while the younger lad moaned and ground down on his finger.

Dick took his time, sucking his boyfriend's cock while he gently worked open Wally's tight pink little pucker. The young speedster moaned slightly and ground down on Nightwing's fingers and gave himself over to the pleasure.

But Wally was no simple little bottom-boi. He was about to finish high school… graduating as valedictorian for his achievements in science, but he was the school nerd… and the hottest nerd you ever met. His feistiness and strength kicked in and he pushed Nightwing down on their shared bed in Mount Justice. It was the same bed that Kid Flash had slept in for a long time, wishing for Nightwing to come to him. But now he had the guy he had cared about for so long. The ginger-haired speedster was surprised for a moment when Dick slid gently into him… so much so that he started to vibrate in excitement.

They started out in that small room that was Wally's room once, but as his lover slid deep into him moaning in pleasure, his confidence grew and he flipped the taller lad over and settled down on him… letting his substantial cock slide deep into himself. He moaned wantonly at the feel of the guy he loved most in the world being inside him, like it was the most perfect moment in his world, which it was. But he was so excited and turned on that before he realized it, he was vibrating deep from the core of his body, something that speedsters did in nervous excitement. Dick felt the vibrations and bucked upward and deep into Wally, pounding the ginger-haired lad's ass deeply while he moaned in pleasure… But as Wally began to vibrate his body while riding up and down on Dick's thick 10 inch shaft… the young vigilante grabbed his shoulders and pushed him down while bucked upward.

"I love you, you hot little weirdo… I really do!" Dick gasped as he dove deeper into Wally's warm tender body and filled him deep inside while he gasped in pleasure. "I love you too Dick." Wally moaned as he kept grinding down on his lover to get every bit into him and when he couldn't hold back he spilled himself all over Dick's face… which the first and original Robin eagerly licked off his lips.

An hour later the two guys tried sneaking into the kitchen only to find Tim and Kon talking over cups of coffee. Tim, for the sake of his big brother and his best friend tried not to notice. Kon, on the other hand… was not so subtle.

"Wow… it suddenly smells like a boy's locker room in here!"

"KON!" Tim Drake hollered, feeling scandalized about his best friend and his big brother. "Tell me you didn't just go there!"

But though Kon and Dick had gone way past their first trials and had become great friends, they had gotten to a place where they playfully pestered each other. But Kon had forgotten there was only so far you could go when Dick's little brother, Tim, was around. Tim was a tight-ass… and Kon liked it that way.

For the next couple hours they all sat around drinking coffee and talking about their mission in Nanda Parbat… and the possible repercussions. Dick and Wally had only played a small part in it, but a critical one at the end.

It was still a couple hours before sunrise, and Tim needed some fresh air and the purity of thought of catching petty criminals harming the common hard-working people of the city. So, he said good night to his husband, brother, and best friend… and took the zeta tube to Gotham to stalk the city and clear his mind.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

A couple of hours later, after a purse snatcher with a broken hand and white might have been a potential rapist who won't ever walk right again, Tim fired his ascension line and swung up to a rooftop over Gotham.

"Well done lad!... very well done." A highly cultured voice with a strangely eastern accent said from the shadows before he walked into the moonlight.

Tim wasn't used to being surprised… it was largely impossible in most cases. But once he noted the dusky skin, the educated voice, and he obvious skills he said…

"Ra's al'Ghul…"

"Yes, young man. You've read me right. But we have unfinished business between us. Do we not?"

"I don't know… do we?" Red Robin asked the ancient leader of the League of Assassins.

"Well indeed… of course we do. You came to my home, killed or maimed many of my retainers, destroyed half of my house, and stole one of my prized possessions."

"My heart bleads for that Ra's." Tim responded darkly, but holding his hand knowing the danger he faced standing alone on the rooftop against the Daemon's Head with no backup. We came to your house with your son and were attacked. Not openly, which could be respected, but in the silent dark. We came with a request for a single item.

"Yes… the statute of the boy. Had it occurred to you that if you had simply asked for it I might have given it to you?"

"No, it had not. But the reception we were given dissuaded me. Your lieutenant, Wahid Khabith I have come to know his name, open your doors in hospitality and then tried to poison us at dinner and then sent some of his people to our rooms late in the night to finish us when the poison failed.

"Yes… he broke the ancient law of hospitality which even I keep… even for my wayward grandson who brought you to my house. And Wahid's poisoning of Ubu, my loyal servant, is another affront. For those reasons I… forgive your attack on my home."

"We came for a friend, and only that."

"Yes, I understand that. Had it ever occurred to you that it was yours for the asking if only you has asked?"

"No, it had not. But your lieutenant made asking unnecessary."

"Yes…" Ra's al'Ghul said darkly. "He has betrayed my ethics and code. He is being punished for this transgression. You are right. The laws of hospitality should not have been broken, especially for my grandson and his friends and family."

"Punished?... How?" Robin asks with a bit of fright in his voice.

"Boy… I don't think you would sleep well knowing that answer. Remember that I was able to send your adoptive brother back to your family to right an error once. Granted, Jason did not return as the vibrant and lively child he once was, but that is a gamble of the Pit. But put a living man in the pit each day to heal the suffering of his body…"

"Dear God!" Tim exclaimed softly. He suddenly wished he had killed that man… for his own sake.

"No boy, I am not. But had it occurred to you that I had known of the uniqueness of that statue, and the handsome lad within, and held him in protection for you to ask for him?"

"No, it hadn't. And since you weren't home it made no difference."

"I protected that magnificent piece of stone for 14 centuries… yet it was never mine to claim. I am your enemy, and an enemy of your father. Make no mistake there. But I am not capricious. He was yours for the asking. My lieutenant did not keep my instructions. You have my apology for that, but understand that you have made a foe of me for all but destroying my house and bringing my grandson against me."

"Damian fought against your house of his own free will…"

"Nevertheless, you are to be commended… young detective. You will see me again, but I will not assume you to be a wayward teen ever again. Take that as a compliment if you must. But I have a house to set in order before I set this city in order."

"This city is on its way to being set to right." Red Robin says confrontationally.

"Of course it is boy… you've managed to defeat every villain, every rapist, every kidnapper, ever thief… haven't you? You and your Kryptonian did a fine job in Metropolis and have spared that city… but Gotham? Nonetheless… take a rest. You have earned it. Celebrate your life for a time. You will see me again, young detective."

Tim understood the eminent danger of being face to face with this man and he was as ready as possible… fatefully so. But the strangest thing happened, after the compliment of calling him the "Young Detective." He simply walked away. Red Robin tried to absorb what he had heard from the Master of Assassins and realized, it was time for them all to rest, recover, and gather their strength before the coming storm… and it now promised to be one hell of a storm.

While he contemplated the conversation, a single shadow grew darker before a blackness detached itself from that shadow.

"Son… you've made quite an enemy." Batman said understandingly as he set an armored hand on his son's shoulder.

"Yes, but you were here the whole time, weren't you? I was never alone. I'm never alone. If not you, I have Kon with me. Love and strength follow me wherever I go."

"Son… love is why I took on my quest. Let that be your reason. Love of Conner, love of your son, my grandson, love of yourself and your life. It was love of my lost parents that made me do this. But without that calming emotion, we are all lost."

"I know dad."

A soft gentle rain began to fall high above the streets of Gotham… and unknown and unseen to any human, hero or villain, was the brief moment when Batman spoke to Robin of the power of love and the Dark Knight held his adopted son on an embrace of love… just to remind him.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

It was one thing to have your heroic friends tell you that you were doing a great job, it was quite another for your heroic father, and his arch-nemesis, to compliment you. It was probably for the best that it was raining so heavily by the time he got back to the Mountain and to his sleeping husband. The think uniform clung to his body and hid nothing of the excitement in his loins. He pulled off his wet uniform and let it drop to the floor and slid into the bed next to his sleeping lover. Superboy smiled in his sleep and snuggled back against his Robin just before he young vigilante, flush with success and respect, ran his hand down the lean and muscled form of his husband and gently pushed himself deep into Superboy… waking him in the night in the most delightful way.


End file.
